Toilet rape accused was spotted on CCTV

A MAN accused of raping a woman in a public toilet in a Cork town has heard that he was spotted on CCTV cameras coming out of a shop a couple of metres away from where the alleged victim was at that time.

The man had previously told gardaí that he was not in the town that afternoon and was instead either eating or sleeping at home.

The 36-year-old foreign national has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 12 counts including rape, oral rape, anal rape, threats to kill, assault causing harm, sexual assault and false imprisonment during the attack on the woman on the afternoon of March 9, 2010.

A local garda told Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC, prosecuting, that during garda interview the man was shown CCTV footage taken from the cameras of a Centra store at around 2pm on the day of the rape.

He accepted that he could be seen buying Marie Claire tights in the shop before leaving and heading in the direction of the town park.

The gardaí put it to him that his alleged victim had left a doctor’s surgery and was a couple of metres ahead of him on the same path but the man claimed he saw nobody there.

He had initially told gardaí he left the shop and immediately went home, having previously told them that he was not in the town at all at the time of the rape. On seeing the CCTV footage he accepted that he must not have gone back to his apartment but instead walked towards the park.

He claimed when he told gardaí that he had been at home, that it had been “a misunderstanding” between him and the officers and apologised for “misleading” them. The accused denied that he was changing his story as the gardaí were “catching him out”.

He did not accept a suggestion that “you left Centra, you saw the girl go to the public toilets and you followed her over and raped her”.

Gardaí put it to him that the woman’s attacker had been wearing the same clothes and jewellery as he had that day and had been carrying a pair of Marie Claire tights in the band of his underwear.

It was also put to him that the woman had described the culprit as wearing a pink slip, identical to a similar garment found at this home. “If you say so,” the man replied, but he again denied that he had raped the woman.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of four women and eight men.