Man denies using force in alleged carpark rape

A Polish man has denied under cross-examination at the Central Criminal Court that he used “force and power” to drag a Galway woman into a nearby carpark where he allegedly raped her.

He claimed instead that he did not have sex with her and that it was “a proposition” to move her from the footpath to the carpark where they could continue “our evening” of kissing and touching.

Prosecuting counsel, Mr Roger Sweetman SC, suggested to the accused that the only reason he told the jury he masturbated while lying beside the complainant was because he learned that his semen had been found on the sleeve of her jacket.

“I cannot add anything more. I have said the true story how it was”, he replied through a interpreter.

When asked by Mr Sweetman (with Mr Sean Gillane BL) how he could explain the multiple bruises on the complainant's wrist if he was only holding her hand, as he claimed, in a romantic way, the accused replied that she was very tipsy and swaying and he was trying to steady her.

He said he distinctly remembered that at one point she was about to fall and he grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.

The 43-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to four charges of rape, sexual assault and assault causing harm to the woman in a Galway town on May 9, 2007.

Earlier, Mr Justice John Edwards told the jury to find him not guilty of robbing the woman of €120 on the same night.

The accused told Mr Sweetman that “the excitement was at a very high level” when he and the complainant moved into the carpark and he was thinking about kissing and touching her.

He agreed that it might appear from the CCTV footage of the incident that he used “force and power” on the woman but said it was not like this from his perspective.

He denied punching and knocking the woman to the ground before having sex with her without her consent.

The accused agreed with Mr Sweetman that gardaí told him during interview that he had the “right to remain silent” and make “no comment” to questions they were asking him but instead he lied to them and told them he had no recollection of the night after leaving the local pub.

“I was really scared and I realised I could loose everything and I knew one thing, that I did not hurt her (the complainant). I was thinking of my family in Poland and my job,” the accused replied.

When asked again by counsel why he did not simply say “no comment”, the accused said that it was difficult for him. “I thought that this was a good choice for me.”

He agreed with Mr Sweetman that the CCTV footage showed him holding up the complainant but added that it was not just at that point they were holding each other.

“We were holding and touching each other all night,” the accused replied.

The trial has now reached its closing stages before Mr Justice Edwards and a jury of seven men and five women.