Teacher gave gifts to friends of alleged victim, court hears

Friends of a girl at the centre of the trial of a north Dublin teacher accused of unlawful carnal knowledge of her have told the jury they received gifts from the accused while at the school.

One girl said that she felt "disgusted" when he gave her gifts of a rag doll and hair bobbins and a second girl said the accused told her that he "wanted to be friends" when giving her a gift.

The 48-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a then 16-year-old transition year student at the school on dates in March 2002.

The now 22-year-old woman claims that he first had intercourse with her on the night of a school musical and then again a few weeks later in a locked classroom when she came in on a day off to work on a project.

A friend of the alleged victim, who was in the same class, told Mr Vincent Heneghan BL, prosecuting, that the accused gave herself and three other girls rag dolls as presents on one occasion and also gave her hair bobbins as a Christmas present.

She said that she felt "disgusted that my teacher was giving me a present" and she threw the doll away.

A second school friend told Mr Heneghan that the man also gave her a rag doll telling her he "wanted to be friends".

She said that she was shown poetry by the alleged victim on a school recreational holiday which the girl said had been given to her by the accused.

She said she had met the complainant after the school musical when the first incident is alleged to have occurred and said her friend looked "quite shaken and agitated".

The principal of the school told Mr Heneghan that the day of the second alleged incident had been a school holiday, but that there had been a staff meeting that morning for teachers which finished about midday.

He said that the accused had access to school keys in the course of his duties. He said that himself, his deputy headmaster, office staff and school cleaners would also have had access to master keys.

He told defence counsel Mr Feargal Kavanagh SC (with Mr Ronan Kennedy BL) that there would have been some students in the school on that day working to finish projects and that the accused would have been monitoring them.

He agreed with Mr Kavanagh that there would have been cleaners working that day but was unaware what time they arrived.

The chairperson of the board of management, whose statement to gardaí was read into evidence by Mr Heneghan, said that once she became aware of the alleged incident she reported it to gardaí and the health board.

The trial continues before Judge Frank O'Donnell and a jury of eight men and four women.