Woman ‘was on verge of tears’

A hotel receptionist has told a trial a woman was on the verge of crying when she came down from a bedroom where she had allegedly been raped.

A 27-year-old Dublin man is alleged to have raped the homeless woman in a room at the George Frederic Handel Hotel, Fishamble St, Dublin on March 27, 2012.

His co-accused, a 40-year-old Dublin man, is alleged to have watched and to have threatened the woman about reporting it to gardaí. Both men have pleaded not guilty to charges of rape.

On day four of the trial, hotel receptionist Emmet O’Shaughnessy told the jury he checked the two accused and the alleged victim in at around 1.40am.

He said sometime after t 2am the woman came down. He said she seemed upset and on the verge of crying. He said she told him, “you’ve got two filthy scumbags up there”. He asked if she was ok and he said she replied, “yeah”. She said she went outside and he watched her walk down the street as he was concerned about her.

He said a short time later one of the accused came down to the lobby dressed in just underwear and asked where the woman had gone. He went back up in the lift and a little later the two men came down to leave. He said the first man seemed a little angry at the older man. He said the first accused told the older man: “It’s because of what you did”.

The court heard Mr O’Shaughnessy told gardaí the younger man said “it’s because of what you said” and the other replied, “no, it’s because of you”.

He told Feargal Kavanagh, defending, when the three arrived, the woman and younger man were close and talking and agreed he got the impression they were an item. The trial continues.