Trial of a man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a sleeping woman has opened

By Brion Hoban

The trial of a man accused of raping and sexually assaulting a sleeping woman has opened.

The man (38), who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault, both alleged to have occurred at an unknown residence in south Dublin in the early hours of the morning of May 13, 2018.

Opening the trial before the jury, Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, said that on the evening of May 12 in 2018, a woman and her roommate attended a city centre pub where the woman was introduced by her roommate to the accused man.

Mr Delaney told the jury that a group of people then attended another city centre bar, where conversation took place between the woman and the accused man and they kissed.

He said at the end of the night the man invited her to his home and she agreed.

Counsel said that the prosecution does not have an exact location for this address.

He said they arrived at the man’s home in a taxi, initially went to the living room before going to the bedroom where further kissing and some sexual activity took place.

He said there was a discussion about having sex and the woman made it clear she did not want to have sexual intercourse.

He said she then went to sleep on her back.

Mr Delaney said the woman alleges she woke to find the man lying on top of her and groping her breasts.

She shouted at him to stop, he did so and said words to the effect of “sorry I’m horny”.

Counsel said the prosecution case is that the woman fell back asleep but awoke again to find the man again lying on top of her and this time having sex with her.

He said the woman alleges that she managed to push him off and confronted him to the effect that what had happened amounted to rape, but he was dismissive of that suggestion as being “over the top”.

He said the woman wanted to leave the address, but was persuaded by the man to let him give her a lift back to her home.

He said there was limited conversation during this journey, but that the man was apologetic.

Mr Delaney said that when the woman arrived to her home, she gave an account of what allegedly happened to her roommate.

She made contact via text and phone calls to the accused man and an arrangement was made that he would attend at her home that evening for discussions about what had happened.

Counsel said this took place and while the man was again apologetic, he did not seem prepared to acknowledge the gravity of what had taken place.

He said the man left and there was a further exchange of messages.

He said the woman sent a message saying there is one thing going through her head again and again which is that he knew she was asleep and why had he not tried to wake her.

Mr Delaney said the man replied that he did not have an answer, that he was very drunk, that he did things which he is now ashamed of, that this was not an excuse but rather an explanation and that he was sorry.

Counsel said the woman did not report the matter to gardaí until April 2019.

He said during the investigation, the man attended at a garda station with a preprepared statement.

He said that in this statement, the man said he woke up during the night and wanted to resume the sexual activity they had been engaging in before.

Mr Delaney said the man said he attempted to wake her up and started to kiss her, but she then awoke, asked him to stop and he did.

Counsel said the man made it clear to gardaí that he did not at any time penetrate the woman.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Karen O’Connor and a jury.