Donegal rape accused plead not guilty at trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Two men pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape of a woman in a Donegal town in February 2015. The proceedings were reported on 25 October 2019.

Colman Fitzgerald SC, defending the older man, put it to gardaí that his client had never been told an interpreter was available. A garda witness responsible for his custody said the defendant had not indicated that he did not understand English and that neither he nor his solicitor had asked for an interpreter.

The jury heard that, at the end of a third interview, gardaí asked the defendant whether he knew rape included sex with someone too drunk to consent. He replied: “I don’t know, unless you tell me now”.

Defence counsel suggested to an interviewing garda that there appeared to be a concern about whether the defendant understood what rape meant in Irish law. The garda said it was not a question of language, that he would ask the same question of a native English speaker and that the defendant was well able to converse in English.

The report said the trial would resume in evidence on Wednesday before a jury and Judge Alex Owens.