Rape accused ‘could not adapt to life in Ireland’

A foreign national who denies of raping a woman with Down syndrome does not have the intelligence to adapt to social norms in Ireland, a trial has been told.

Giving evidence for the defence, psychologist Rioghnach O’Leary told the Central Criminal Court the 34-year-old came from an area of Pakistan where Sharia law was practised and where there were strict rules against physical contact between men and women.

She said that the accused was in the bottom 3% of the population in cognitive functioning and “would have difficulty in adapting to social norms.” She also said he showed a elevated sexual preoccupation and that he had a “singular focus on women as potential sexual partners”.