Galway women made kissing bet, rape trial hears

A friend of the Galway woman who alleges she was raped by a Czech national has said she bet the complainant "a tenner in jest" that she would not kiss the accused outside the pub they had been drinking in.

The friend said the 24-year-old complainant jokingly took up the bet before leaving her to speak to the accused and kiss him.

The friend said she got three missed calls on her mobile phone from the complainant between 2am and 2.30am on July 28, 2007 the time of the alleged rape.

She stood up in the witness box at the request of defence counsel, Mr Diarmaid McGuinness SC, and exhibited to the jury how she encouraged the complainant to kiss the accused by exhorting her loudly: "Go ahead XX."

A doctor who examined the woman the next morning said he could not find any physical or genital trauma on her body but added that this did not prove she was not raped.

The 23-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to raping and sexually assaulting the woman on or about July 28, 2007 in Co Galway.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of eight men and four women.