Rugby rape trial: Alleged victim becomes distressed as police interview played to court
A woman who has accused two Ireland and Ulster rugby players of rape was distressed as footage of her police interview was played to a court.
The hour-long video showed an account given to PSNI detectives on June 30, 2016, two days after the alleged incident.
It was played to the jury of nine men and three women at Belfast Crown Court today.
In the recording, the woman broke down a number of times as she recalled to officers how she was allegedly raped.
She said in the footage: "The position they put me in, I did not want to be in that position. I felt I had no choice and the fact that they were so rough. I was bleeding."
The woman also highlighted her worries about the possible repercussions of reporting the incident.
"I am so worried about what is going to happen to me after this," she said.
"It's because they are big names here."
Paddy Jackson, from Oakleigh Park in Belfast, and Stuart Olding, from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the same woman at a house in south Belfast in June 2016.
Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.
The woman who claims she was raped by two Ireland rugby players says some details slipped her mind afterwards because the rape was so traumatic.
The woman who claims she was raped by two Ireland rugby players says some details slipped her mind afterwards because the rape was so traumatic.
She claims Paddy Jackson raped her in his Belfast home in June 2016, before his Ulster teammate Stuart Olding forced himself on her.
Defence barrister for Paddy Jackson Brendan Kelly spent some time questioning the woman about why she did not tell her friends, medical staff at the clinics she attended and the police when she first contacted police about a woman walking into the room while she was allegedly being raped.
She said she felt this was “secondary” and the woman came in after she had allegedly been raped. She said she did not feel the need to give her friends a blow-by-blow account and was being bombarded with questions in the clinics.
She said the alleged rape itself was so traumatic and it obviously slipped her mind when she first went to the police, but she insisted she did not leave it out on purpose.
The court heard earlier this week that it is anticipated she will tell the jury the woman did not seem distressed and she didn't feel she had just witnessed a rape.
When asked why she hadn’t mentioned the oral sex allegation against Mr Olding to her friends or medical staff, she said she didn't think that constituted rape.
The woman’s cross examination will resume tomorrow morning.
A woman allegedly raped by two Irish international rugby stars did not want to go to the police because she did not want to end up looking like a "stupid little girl", a court has been told.
She was giving evidence for a second day at the trial of 26-year-old Paddy Jackson and his 24-year-old Ireland and Ulster team-mate Stuart Olding.
Belfast Crown Court heard how the woman, who cannot be named to protect her identity, told a friend via text: "No, I do not want to get the police involved. You know how that will turn out.
"It's my word against theirs. Ulster Rugby will vouch for their good character and I'll just look like a stupid little girl."
The high profile case, scheduled for five weeks, is being heard by Judge Patricia Smyth.
Jackson, from Oakleigh Park in Belfast, and Olding, from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the same woman at a house in south Belfast in June 2016.
Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.
Two other men have also been returned for trial on charges connected with the same incident alleged to have happened at an after-party following an evening in a Belfast nightclub on June 28, 2016.
Blane McIlroy, 26, from Royal Lodge Road, Ballydollaghan, Belfast, has pleaded not guilty to one count of exposure, while Rory Harrison, 25, from Manse Road, Belfast denies perverting the course of justice and withholding information.
The jury of nine men and three women also heard how the woman told her friends she felt there was "no point" in going to the police.
She wrote in another message to a pal: "No I do not want anyone to hear.
"I would just be embarrassed."
During cross examination, Jackson's defence barrister Brendan Kelly QC asked why the woman had not told friends that another female had walked into the bedroom as the alleged attack was happening.
He said: "Why did you not tell them about the witness?"
She replied: "Because the whole rape had been so traumatic that was what I had focussed on.
"The fact that someone had walked in was secondary."
The woman later added: "Whenever the girl walked into the room, the stage that she walked in at, she had already missed the moment that those men crossed the line.
"She had not witnessed the blatant disregard for the fact that I did not want to have sex."
The case continues.
The woman at the centre of the rape case involving two Ireland rugby players will be cross-examined today.
She claims she was raped by Paddy Jackson and his Ulster teammate Stuart Olding in 2016.
Yesterday she gave her account of events at Mr. Jackson's Belfast Home on June 28.
The woman is due to be cross-examined by the men's lawyers this morning.
Jackson and Olding deny raping her at a house party at Jackson’s home in Belfast in June 2016.
