Armagh man found not guilty of rape on day five of trial
A jury at the Central Criminal Court took just 40 minutes to find an Armagh man not guilty of raping a woman following a wedding reception five years ago.
The 39-year-old married man had denied that he raped a South Armagh woman on September 15, 2001 at a hotel in Monaghan. His acquittal by a jury of three women and nine men came on day-five of a retrial.
A previous jury was discharged in June 2005 after a 10-day trial when it declared following four hours deliberation that it was deadlocked. The seven women and five men in that jury had also spent one night in a hotel.
The 34 year-old complainant and the accused had both attended a wedding reception in a well-known hotel and were staying overnight with their respective parties.
She said the accused approached her in the corridor while she was on her way to her room and asked which room she was in, that he then kissed her but that she pushed him away and told him to stop and go to his wife.
The woman said when she told him she was going to bed, he pressed her against a wall before he pulled her on to the floor, got on top of her and raped her. She said she told him to stop but could not fight back as he was too strong and overpowering.
Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins thanked the jury for its care and attention to the case and discharged the accused man from the court.
