A former mental health nurse accused of raping three women prisoners under his care said they all "lied".

Peter Barrowman, 35, from Stenhousemuir, Falkirk, who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, denies raping raping three prisoners at HMP Cornton Vale between January and March 2014.

Giving evidence on Wednesday, Barrowman was asked if he had any kind of sexual contact with any of the three women who were serving sentences at Cornton Vale prison and replied: "No, I did not."

He was then asked if he had raped any of the women and said: "I did not."

When asked why the women would make up allegations against him, he said: "Possibly financial reasons or to gain access to more medication but I don't know."

Barrowman was then asked by solicitor advocate Liam Ewing, representing him, how he felt about the allegations and replied: "Angry, confused and scared."

He was asked by prosecutor Rosemary Guinnane: "Are you saying all these women are motivated by compensation?" Barrowman replied: "I don't know. I don't know why they are doing this."

It was suggested to him it was a unlikely they had got together to make up a story and Barrowman replied: "They talked to each other in prison. They would all have heard rumours."

Ms Guinnane then asked: "Are you saying for no reason they came into court and lied about what you did to them." Barrowman said: "They have lied, yes."

Earlier Barrowman told the jury he was sacked from the jail last July after being suspended since March 2014.

A 28-year-old woman told the court Barrowman had sex with her during a counselling session in jail.

The former prisoner said there was a "do not disturb" sign outside the room and Barrowman told her: "I couldn't stop thinking about you last night."

The woman told police in a statement given in October 2014: "Peter was on the computer. He said 'I'll need to put something on my notes. I'll put I down, I think, that you've got post-traumatic stress disorder'."

She claims Barrowman started to touch her and then had sex with her.

The woman added: "I didn't expect that. He was my mental health worker."

At the close of the Crown case, Ms Guinnane withdrew the charges of supplying drugs to prisoners against Barrowman and he was acquitted of those charges by Judge Sean Murphy.

He now faces three rape charges and in one of these charges it is alleged he supplied Pregabalin to a 28-year-old woman.

He is currently suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Barrowman denies all the charges against him.