The accused pleads not guilty to rape in Central Criminal Court
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
The accused has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, false imprisonment, breaching a barring order, production of an article and four counts of assault causing harm.
The first four charges concern November 2015, while the assault causing harm charges concern the period between 2011 and 2015. The proceedings were reported on 13 December 2016.
The court heard that the woman left her partner with their children in 2015 after five years of alleged violence and threats. They moved into her sister’s home in Longford, and she obtained a district court order forbidding the accused from coming near her new home.
The woman told the jury that she was cooking and minding her own and her sister’s children when the accused entered through the back door. She alleged that he picked her up and brought her to a waiting car, which sped away.
A local sergeant gave evidence on the trial’s second day. He said gardaí found children crying and prepared dinner, changed nappies and cared for them until the woman’s sister returned. Gardaí later learned that her phone battery had died. The sergeant said he subsequently learned that the complainant had fled to safety and the accused had been arrested.
Defence counsel Michael Bowman SC put it to the woman that the rape and assault accusations were untrue. She maintained they were true. He acknowledged difficulties in the relationship but said his client denied threatening her with a knife or committing the four assaults mentioned.
The woman agreed that she had loved the accused and that he made her beans and toast during the alleged kidnapping. She said he made the food because she was so upset and could see her condition.
The trial was continuing before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart and a jury.
This case may have concluded differently. The outcome has not yet been confirmed by a public source we could find.