Jury watch video evidence in oral rape trial
A jury in the Central Criminal Court trial of a Louth man accused of orally raping a woman with learning difficulties have watched a video of her interview with gardaí.
The 63-year-old man, who can not be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the woman by penetrating her mouth with his penis on December 11, 2008.
Mr Justice Barry White told the jury that the complainant in this case suffers from “certain incapacities” and as a result she would not be giving evidence in the “customary fashion” in the witness box.
He said that there was legislation in being which provides for a person who does not have full mental capacities to give evidence in a controlled environment where the person is interviewed by gardaí or trained personnel and a video tape of the interview can be introduced as evidence.
Mr Justice White said the tape of the complainant’s interview with gardaí in January 2009 had been “vetted” and there were certain matters which were irrelevant, so during these portions of the tape the sound would be muted.
He said the complainant would be available for cross examination via video link if the defence team required.
On the videotape the 23-year-old complainant told Garda Philippa Cantwell that the accused man had asked her to follow him outside while she was attending a local event and when she did, he asked her to perform a sex act on him.
She said that she kept saying no, but he said “go on” and “kept forcing me”. She said “then it happened”.
She told Gda Cantwell that she bent down and performed the act and he gave her €20 afterwards. She said it lasted about two minutes and she felt upset afterwards.
Gda Cantwell asked the woman if the accused had said anything else to her and she said no.
A friend of the woman told Ms Caroline Biggs SC (with Mr Stephen McCann BL), prosecuting, that they had been watching dancing together and afterwards she went outside for a cigarette. She said she could not find the complainant when she came back inside and waited outside for her.
She said when her friend came out she was “roaring and crying and shaking”. She said the complainant told her the accused had asked her to perform sex acts “and forced her and gave her €20”.
The friend told Mr Brendan Grehan SC (with Mr Kieran Kelly BL), defending, that the complainant told her that “he forced her”.
She told Mr Grehan she had read “bits” of her statement to gardaí and agreed she had given the statement in January 2009, not long after the alleged events.
Mr Grehan put it to her that today she said her friend had been “forced” but when she gave her statement she told gardai her friend “gave” the man the sex acts. He asked her if that was what her friend had said to her and she said yes.
She agreed she told her friend she should not do that because she would get “a bad name” and that she should tell her parents or she might be in big trouble if she did not.
The trial continues before Mr Justice White and a jury of five women and seven men.
