Woman tells court that former boyfriend raped her twice

A young mother has told a Central Criminal Court jury that her former boyfriend broke into her home and raped her on two occasions last year.

The 19-year-old Dublin man, who can not be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to counts of raping the woman and burglary with a knife on two dates in April and May 2008.

Prosecuting counsel, Mr Paul O'Higgins SC (with Mr John Quirke BL), told the jury the prosecution would not be proceeding with two other counts of a threat to kill and harassment.

The now 20-year-old woman told Mr O'Higgins that she and her former boyfriend, who have a young child together, broke up early in 2008 and she was living alone with her child.

She said she had been getting threatening phone calls from the accused and asked two friends to stay with her on April 29, 2008.

She said her friends left early the next morning to go to work and the accused came into her living room uninvited, threatening to kill her and asking if she had been with anyone else. She said she asked him to leave.

The woman said they argued and the accused man went to kitchen and returned with a knife. She said she could smell "stale drink" from him and knew "from the state of him" he had been drinking all night.

She said she went to pick up her child but the accused man pushed her onto a chair and got on top of her with one leg on each side. She said she asked him to get off her as the child was looking and was upset.

She said the man put the knife down and started punching her "everywhere" and calling her a "tramp".

She told Mr O'Higgins she was crying and trying to stop him. She said she got up and tried to get out the door to call the gardaí but he pulled her back by the hair and started hitting her again.

She said he tried to kiss her and she turned her head away. She said she made another effort to get to the door and he grabbed her back by the throat. She told Mr O'Higgins: "I could feel my face going purple."

The woman said he dragged her to the bedroom and she tried to keep herself upright by grabbing the mobile on the baby's cot but it broke and she landed on the bed. She said the accused started kissing her again and when she turned away began hitting her. She said he pulled their clothes down and had sex with her.

She said afterwards the accused went into the living room and started picking up the child. She said he pushed her back and put the child, who was unwell, into a pram without strapping it in.

She said he took the child outside but she managed to get him back and a neighbour rang the gardai. The woman said she "was in a state and crying".

The woman said that on the next occasion she was asleep in bed with the baby and awoke to find the accused standing over her. She said he told her he had been watching her sleeping for about 15 minutes.

She said he went into the kitchen and then got into bed without her permission and had sex with her. She said afterwards he told her that he loved her and wanted to get back with her. She said while he was out of the room she texted a man she was seeing asking him to call her.

She said she told him she would meet him the following day and he left. She said she had not put up any resistance because he "had left me in a bad way the first time". She said she rang the gardaí and they came straight away.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of four men and eight women.