Jury begins deliberating in trial of man accused of raping former partner

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has begun deliberating in the trial of a man accused of raping his former partner from Longford following her alleged kidnapping. Justice Carmel Stewart charged the jury on the legal test for consent, directing them that an honest but unreasonable belief in consent may constitute a defence to rape, provided such belief was genuinely held and not based on self-deceit. The judge…