Trial of man accused of raping a Spanish tourist in Dublin reaches closing stages
Isabel Hayes
A man accused of raping a Spanish tourist in Dublin six years ago “led her in a menacing and predatory way” to a quiet area and had sex with her when she was in a bad state as a result of alcohol, a jury has been told.
The 33-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape on January 1st, 2019. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
It is the State's case that the man raped the woman on a street in the Dublin Castle area and that the woman did not consent and was unable to consent due to the effects of alcohol. The man denies any wrongdoing.
In his closing speech to the jury on Tuesday, Tony McGillicuddy SC, prosecuting, said the jury must have regard to the CCTV footage in the case, which showed the pair meeting at a shop shortly after she had vomited and then walking to the Dublin Castle area.
The woman was looking for her friend from whom she had got separated, and the man also told gardaí that she asked him to help find her friend, but prosecution counsel noted the man brought the woman to a different part of the city.
“(He) led her in a menacing and predatory way into an area off the normal streets of Dublin City Centre on New Year's Eve to have sexual intercourse with a 19-year-old Spanish student with hardly any English against her consent and when she was in a bad state as a result of alcohol,” he said.
He said the complainant's of what happened that night was “honest, sincere and ed for”, and he urged jurors to find the man guilty of the charge before the court.
The trial heard the woman had been in town to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks that night when she got separated from her friend and came into with the accused man outside a shop. She told the court she was trying to find a bar to meet her friend and the man walked her through town to a car park area where the alleged rape occurred.
'Felt like a doll'
The woman said she felt “like a doll” and didn't have any strength in her body during the alleged incident. Afterwards, the court has heard she walked with the man back through the city centre, where she got talking to a couple – a man and woman - outside a shop and parted ways with the accused man.
The woman ended up in a B&B with the second man after the woman went home, where they had anal sex before the woman went home to her accommodation. She told the court it was painful, and she persuaded the man to stop. The trial was played CCTV footage of this encounter, which occurred in the hallway of the B&B.
When the complainant woke up the next morning, she told the court she “realised I had two rapes and there might be a medical issue with that”. She went to hospital. The jury has been told that no charge has been brought against the second man.
Mr McGillicuddy said the jury had heard evidence from the woman the complainant met at a shop who said she “looked all out of whack” and that she approached her and told her it was a dangerous part of town.
The second man told the trial the woman was “highly intoxicated”. Mr McGillicuddy said he had not dwelt on the woman's sexual encounter with the second man that night because the charge before the court related to the accused man only.
He said what the jury had to consider was whether the woman was capable of consenting to sexual intercourse between 1.40am and 2.17am on the morning in question.
'Bizarre' elements to case
In his closing speech to the jury, Padraig Dwyer SC, defending, said there were “bizarre” elements to the case. He told the jury there were “huge similarities” between the two sexual encounters the woman had that night.
He said she met the men both in a public place, had sexual intercourse with each of them in a semi-private, semi-public place and that she spent the same amount of time with them.
He said that if it weren't for the fact that the jury had watched video evidence of the woman's sexual encounter with the second man, “He would be sitting there where (the accused man) is sitting now.”
Mr Dwyer said the woman's word was not reliable and that she was “in full control of her faculties” at the time.
He urged the jury to look at the CCTV footage of the woman walking through town, and he said there was no evidence the accused man was present when she vomited in the shop.
“It's also strange that someone who was raped would remain with her rapist for a period of 40 minutes without saying a word to anyone or trying to alert anyone to the problem,” he said.
“..In this particular case, I would suggest to you what happened here was in fact a scenario where she regretted what happened and she was confused about what happened and ashamed about what happened,” he said.
He said the woman “was capable of consenting on the night”, that she was unreliable and imprecise. “She is someone who should not be relied on to convict a man of one of the most serious crimes.”
He urged the jury to enter a verdict of not guilty against the man.
The trial continues before Ms Justice Caroline Biggs and a jury.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
