Man found not guilty in Halloween rape case
A Limerick man has been found not guilty of raping a woman who was walking home alone in the early hours of Halloween Night two years ago.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court took a little more than two hours to acquit the now 21-year-old man on day-six of the trial in which he denied raping and sexually assaulting the woman on October 31, 2005 in a Co Limerick town.
Mr Justice Barry White discharged him from the court and thanked the jury of five women and seven men for its care and attention to the case. He also exempted the members from jury service for seven years.
The accused had claimed in evidence that the now 31-year-old complainant "forced" herself on him while he stood under a tree to make a phone call after she had earlier approached him in a disco and kissed him.
The woman told the jury she was attacked from behind by the accused while she walked home and two men who heard her call out gave evidence of holding him until gardaí came and arrested him.
