Jury to begin deliberating in trial of teen accused of raping schoolmate

A jury at the Central Criminal Court is set to begin deliberations tomorrow in the trial of a 19-year-old from Donegal charged with raping and orally raping a schoolmate. The alleged offences occurred in the early hours of March 18th, 2016, in a Donegal town, when the complainant was 16 years old. The accused has pleaded not guilty to both counts. Justice Deirdre Murphy concluded her charge to the jury today, directing members on the burden of proof and instructing them to assess the reliability of witness testimony. The judge advised jurors to consider whether memory inconsistencies might be expected in accounts of traumatic events. During closing arguments, the prosecution contended that injuries sustained by the complainant were consistent with forced sexual assault, whilst the defence submitted that significant gaps existed in the complainant's recollection of events that night.