Cork man goes on trial for rape

A Cork man has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court accused of raping a drunk woman at a house party as her boyfriend slept beside her.

The 25-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to raping the woman at a house on July 15, 2007.

The 25-year-old alleged victim told Mr Michael Counihan SC (with Ms Siobhán Lankford BL), prosecuting, that her boyfriend had come to stay with her for the weekend and on the Friday night they shared a bottle of champagne and some vodka at her residence.

She said they continued drinking on Saturday and that night got chatting to a couple in a pub and decided to go back to their house. She thought they left for the couple's house at about 1.30am and had drinks on arrival.

She said after about an hour 10 more people came to the house and joined the party. She said she was very drunk and was brought to a bed by the woman of the house.

She said the next thing she remembered was waking up and someone having sex with her. She said she had been awoken by "roughness in my genital area" and at first thought it was her boyfriend but thought it unusual that he would have sex with her while she was asleep.

She looked over and saw her boyfriend was asleep beside her on the bed. She said she initially thought she must have been cheating on him because she was so drunk, but then remembered she had been asleep.

The woman said she told the man on top of her: "What the hell do you think you are doing" and asked how long it had been going on for. She said he replied: "Two minutes", then she told him to get off her.

She said he told her he wanted to go to bed and told her to get out of his bed then left the room. She said she woke up her boyfriend and he wanted her to point the man out. She said they went to the living room and saw the accused. Her boyfriend asked her to wait outside until he joined her 15 minutes later and they left.

She told Mr Counihan they went to a Garda station and made a complaint.

The woman agreed with defence counsel, Mr Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, that she was "falling around" by the time she reached the couple's house.

She denied that she had been flirting with the accused in the house and that she had kissed him. She denied that she was having consensual sex but became horrified by what she was doing and pushed the accused away.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury.