Patrick Beauchamp pleads not guilty to sexual assault and assault charges

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

Patrick Beauchamp pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault and two counts of assault causing harm. The charges concerned alleged events at his Ballsbridge home in the early hours of 10 May 2015. The proceedings were reported on 29 November 2018.

The woman gave evidence that she met Beauchamp on a night out and went to his home with her friend and an acquaintance. She said Beauchamp put his hand up her dress as she lay on a couch; she told him to stop and pushed him away. She said she fell asleep and had no recollection of the alleged assault, and that the two men were fighting when she woke.

Her acquaintance said he saw Beauchamp lying on top of the woman and “humping” her. He said Beauchamp then headbutted him, and later followed the group down the street and punched him. Garda Tara Power said she saw Beauchamp punching the man.

Beauchamp told the jury he had not got on top of the woman and denied putting his hand up her skirt. He said that, apart from a kiss, he had not touched her and that she was standing beside him when the fighting began. He said the other man became aggressive and he acted in self-defence. He admitted striking him with a closed fist but denied headbutting him, and said the man had swung at him first in the street.

The report said the trial would continue on Friday afternoon, when Judge Patricia Ryan was due to charge the jury.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.