Trial of man accused of raping his wife’s friend continues

By Eimear Dodd

A woman who was allegedly raped in a park almost five years ago has denied any previous romantic involvement with the accused man.

A Dublin man (55), who can’t be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to rape in September 2019 in a park following a party at his house.

On the second day of the Central Criminal Court trial today, a friend of the complainant said the woman called to her house in a distressed state a few days after the alleged incident.

She took the complainant to her bedroom, where she fell to the ground crying and shaking.

The witness said she asked her friend if something had happened to her at the party, but the complainant was too upset to answer.

The witness said she then asked her friend if the accused man had raped her.

“She said ‘don’t say that, don’t say that word’. She was hysterical.”

She said her friend told her she didn’t want the man to walk her home from the party, but he did.

She said she was told by her friend that the man was “inside” her in the park.

She said she had never seen the complainant so upset and tried to support and comfort her.

The witness said her friend stayed at her house that night before returning home the following morning.

She told Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, that there was “no love or friendship” between the man and the complainant.

During cross-examination, she said she had never seen the complainant drunk.

Earlier, the complainant agreed with Dominic McGinn SC, defending, during cross-examination that she had not spoken to his client due to a disagreement for around five years before this alleged incident.

She accepted it was “unusual” that the man came into the bathroom but said she didn’t tell anyone, referring to an incident before the alleged rape when the man walked in on her while she was in the bathroom of his home.

She said she thought the comment “I could have you now” referred to something violent, not sexual, but she repeated that she didn’t feel threatened.

Mr McGinn suggested his client was never in the bathroom with her.

“I suggest you are wrong,” she replied.

She denied Mr McGinn’s contention that she was “briefly romantically involved” with his client.

She rejected a defence contention that she took a particular route home to spend more time with the accused man.

Mr McGinn put it to the woman that she fell onto the ground in the park, then performed oral sex on his client before inviting him to engage in sexual intercourse.

Defence counsel then suggested that she made a comment like “I have you now” or “I’ll ruin your life” to his client.

“Absolutely not, no,” she replied.

She accepted the defence’s suggestion that she engaged with his client by text the next day but couldn’t remember if they met up.

Mr McGinn suggested to the woman that she said the sex was non-consensual as an explanation for her partner, which she rejected.

During re-examination, she said she and her partner became upset on the Monday after the alleged incident because she didn’t want him to hug her.

“I didn’t want him to be contaminated. I wouldn’t let my children touch me [that weekend]”.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and the jury.