Rape accused gives evidence in court
The man accused of raping a Cork woman in an alleyway in her home town in the early hours of the morning has denied the charge in evidence to the jury at the Central Criminal Court.
He told defence counsel Mr Ciaran O'Loughlin SC he went home after spending that night in a pub and a nightclub in the town with some of his friends.
He said he picked up a slash hook after six gardai burst into his caravan because he had received "beatings" from the gardai before.
The 35-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to one charge of rape and one charge of anal rape against the woman in Cork on September 3, 2000.
He told Mr O'Loughlin he picked up a friend and went to a friend's home in a housing estate in the town in Cork. He then went to a pub in the town and met some friends.
He went to a nightclub with these friends and afterwards went to his red Nissan car and drove home. He said he didn't rape the alleged victim.
He said he heard the gardai arrive at his caravan on September 8 when he was still in bed. The door was locked and also tied with a piece of rope but was forced open by the gardai.
The accused said he told them he was better off dead due to the way they were treating him. When he was arrested in a field after a chase, he was brought to the ground and had his hands twisted behind his back. He was also hit on the shoulder with a piece of timber at one point.
He had thought the gardai were after him for driving without insurance as he had been stopped about a week before and a friend had phoned him to say they wanted to talk to him about a car.
He said he was not told he was being arrested for rape until after he was brought to the ground in the field by the gardai.
The accused said he did not sign all of the memo's of interviews taken by the gardai as some questions and answers were left out. He had denied raping the woman each time he was asked.
In cross-examination by Mr Patrick J McCarthy SC (with Mr Sean Gillane BL), prosecuting, the man denied he had been driving a hot-wired red Mazda which was found close to where the alleged rape had occurred.
Mr McCarthy said a garda had earlier given evidence that he had seen the accused drive this car on the night of the alleged rape but the accused said if he had been seen in a car by the gardai he would have been stopped.
Mr McCarthy said two friends of the accused had said they had seen him in the Mazda car the same night but he said they must have been mistaken as he was driving a red Nissan.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan and a jury of five women and seven men.
