Man accused of raping pensioner 'power-washed her house', court hears

A Monaghan man charged with raping an 86-year-old woman in her home initially denied in garda interviews that he had ever been in the woman's home but later claimed to have helped a relative "power-wash" her house.

The man told gardaí that while power-washing the house about five months previously they had fitted the hose onto the sink in the kitchen or bathroom of the house and he had used the toilet. He could not explain how his fingerprints could have been found in a bedroom of the house.