Man acquitted in Donegal rape case

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

A man aged 21 was acquitted of rape at the Central Criminal Court. He had pleaded not guilty. The proceedings were reported on 26 February 2016.

The allegation related to Donegal town in July 2012, when he and the woman were both 18. The trial heard that kissing and consensual sexual activity in an alley were followed by an alleged rape despite her objections. According to the report, she bled severely and sought emergency hospital care that night.

The defence maintained that intercourse took place but that he stopped as soon as she said “no, not here”.

Jurors watched a recording of his garda interview. Explaining why he was sorry, he referred to drinking and trying to have sex without her consent.

The recording showed a garda swearing at him and questioning him aggressively. The defence criticised the officer's crude language and interruptions. The garda maintained that his approach was “firm but fair”.

In her closing speech, prosecuting counsel Pauline Walley SC rejected the garda's handling of the interview while maintaining that the evidence remained before the jury.

Defending counsel Shane Costelloe SC suggested that embarrassment over friends' questions about blood on her dress had prompted the woman to fabricate the allegation. She rejected that suggestion. He also argued that she had sought to retract her statement because it was false. She explained that she initially wanted to withdraw it because the increasingly formal situation frightened her and she wanted to put it behind her.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt described the verdict as a dispassionate finding rather than a judgment on anyone. He also said the wait for trial had probably caused suffering to both the complainant and the accused.