Man cleared of rape in Clare hotel

A south Dublin man has been cleared by a jury after 39 minutes deliberations of raping a woman who claimed she thought she was having sex with a man she fancied in a luxury Clare hotel.

The 40-year-old man, who was among the same wedding party as the complainant with a large group of other people, denied in evidence at the Central Criminal Court that he raped the now 30-year-old woman on March 30, 2003 in a hotel bedroom.