Garda head backs claim Corrib woman used ‘rape’ word first

THE head of the largest garda representative body yesterday appeared to back claims that one of the women at the centre of the Corrib tape controversy made claims about rape before gardaí joked about raping them.

Damien McCarthy was referring to an interim report by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, which gave details of a sworn statement from a garda who was present when the two women were arrested in Corrib.

The report said that during its investigation “it was suggested that another garda member may have overheard one of the females using the word ‘rape’ during the course of their arrest and prior to the word being used by any garda member.”