Trial hears garda interview of second man accused of gang rape in Dublin

This article contains references to rape and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

By Eimear Dodd

A man accused of the rape of a woman he met at a nightclub told gardai that he knows “through the night she had fun” with him and two other accused men.  

The three men, aged between 34 and 42, with addresses in Dublin and Wicklow, have pleaded not guilty to a total of seven counts of rape, oral rape and sexual assault of the woman at an unknown location in a car and in a Dublin house on August 31, 2019.

The men, who can’t be named for legal reasons, deny any wrongdoing.

Memos of garda interviews with the second accused man in September 2020 were read to the Central Criminal Court jury by Diana Stuart, BL, prosecuting.

This 42-year-old man, with an address in Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman in the car and one count of raping her in the house.

Yesterday, the court was shown two video clips recorded by the third man on August 31, 2019 which were later recovered from the phone of the first accused.

Nothing is visible in either clip, but  a female voice says ‘no’ several times during a 30-second clip.   An investigating garda told the court he believed a male voice says “stick it up her arse” in this clip.

In interview memos read today, the second accused told gardai that the woman was refusing the first man’s request for anal sex in this clip.

He said his friend asked again “in a cheeky way” and after the woman refused, he told him “if it’s a no, it’s a no”.

In his third interview, the man said the woman was saying ‘no’ to removing her top.

He suggested this video was recorded in the car while he was having sex with the woman.

When asked if the woman sounded sleepy or drowsy, he replied “I think she sounds sexual, either the way she’s in the middle of a sexual act whether with me or [the first accused]”

Gardai then put to him that the woman was saying ‘no’ to being raped. “No, she was never raped,” he replied.

When gardai suggested again that the audio is of an intoxicated woman saying no to rape, he said “I didn’t rape anyone“.

The man suggested there could be another video, which had been recorded in the first man’s bedroom.

Gardai put to him that the 30-second clip was recorded in a car and that they “all got stories straight and planned what you would say occurred on the night. You’ve been caught out in this video and concocted a story in the bedroom where she said ‘no’” and changed his story “on the fly”.

The man said another video was recorded in the bedroom.

When gardai put to him that the clips record him and the other accused raping the woman, he said “she was never forced, [she] was never raped.

The court heard three phones were seized from the man when his home was searched in December 2019, and a further phone was seized after his interview in September 2020.

During cross-examination, the garda witness agreed with Garret Baker SC, defending the second accused, that it is standard practice for an accused person to be asked for a “sterile” account, then for any evidence to be put to them for comment.

Mr Baker suggested his client was confused about where the videos were recorded and couldn’t hear all the audio, which led to the suggestion of a third video.

The garda disagreed. During re-examination, he told Ms Stuart that efforts are made to ensure an accused person can hear evidence during an interview.

He said neither the man nor his solicitor raised concerns that they couldn’t hear the audio.

The court heard gardai did not find a third video.

During his interviews, the second accused said he was at the nightclub with the two other accused, where the woman danced with them.

After leaving, he said he walked with woman towards his SUV. He said they chatted and the other two accused walked ahead.

At the car, they all decided to continue to party.

The second man accepted he was the person described as a ‘taxi driver’ by the woman in her statement to gardai.

He said there was “banter” between the woman and other two accused during the drive to the house of the third man, who briefly left the SUV.

The second man said the woman started to compliment him and the first man.

They considered going their separate ways after the third man returned, but the woman insisted she wanted to party.

He said the first man asked her if she wanted to party with them, and that she understood what he meant and agreed.

He said the first accused and the woman kissed.

He said he drove away from the third man’s house, intending to leave the woman at a taxi rank, but she didn’t want to go home.

He said at some point, the first man asked the woman when was she going to have the chance to have sex with “three good-looking guys” “who are comfortable together”.

He said the first man told her “no one will know” and she agreed.

He said he pulled the car over while the first accused and the woman kissed.

He said he initially watched from the driver’s seat and the third man was also watching.

He said the first man performed oral sex on the woman, after she had removed her jeans.

He insisted her top remained on both in the SUV, and later in the house.

He said the woman rubbed his arm and they kissed after he got into the back.

He said the woman asked if he had a condom then they had sex while she also performed oral sex on the first man.

He said he drove to the first man’s house.

He, the first accused and the woman got out, but she then got back into the SUV.

He and the first man went into the house.

He said he believed the woman and the third accused were kissing in the car, before coming into the house.

The second man said he and the woman kissed in the first man’s bedroom, then had sex.

He said she performed oral sex on the first man, and had sex with him.

The second accused said the woman also performed oral sex on the third man.

He said there was chat after their sexual interactions ended. He said he kissed the complainant on the cheek before he left with the third man, telling her they might see each other again.

“She was a fun, good looking girl,” he said, later saying “she was in control”.

“We all had a laugh, she was sharp with jokes and what she wanted,” he said, during the second interview.

When asked by gardai if the woman seemed drunk, he described her as “happy, not drunk”, steady on her feet and “pleasant company”.

Responding to toxicology results that the complainant was highly intoxicated, he said  “she wasn’t too drunk to refuse things she didn’t want… I understand what the scientists say, but I didn’t see [her] intoxicated”.

He denied the woman blacked out. “I would never take advantage of a half-asleep drunk girl”.

He said she was “conscious and allowing, never a moment when she was not engaging.”

He said he was “baffled”, adding “why would a group of guys take a girl to a house, take advantage and leave her there overnight?”.

The man told gardai he was “a bit lost” about the woman’s allegations. “I know I would never do that”, he said.

When gardai suggested the woman was too intoxicated to give consent, he said his judgement at the time was that “she was fine” and “I’m 100% sure everything that happened was consensual”.

The first man, aged 39 with an address in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman at his home address and not guilty to one count of oral rape and one count of sexually assaulting her in a car.

The third man, aged 34 with an address in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to orally raping the woman in the house and sexually assaulting her in the car.

The trial continues.