Rape accused drove to woman's house to 'cuddle' her, court hears

A man accused of raping his ex-partner at gunpoint told gardaí he drove to her Clare home so he could 'cuddle' her and show her how upset he was by putting the weapon in his mouth.

The 44-year-old man, originally from England, said in a garda interview that he had initially intended to kill himself with his cousin’s gun but then decided to “visit” his then pregnant ex-partner because he wanted her to see how upset he was over their breakup, her drinking and her denying him access to their other baby.

Detective Garda TJ Molloy told Ms Pauline Walley SC, prosecuting, that the man said he had seen his ex-partner “staggering with two guys” earlier that night after their local pub’s closing time.

The man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to three counts of rape, two counts of anal rape, two counts of oral rape and one count each of false imprisonment, threatening to kill by shooting, threatening to disfigure with a knife, aggravated burglary and possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life.

He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to assaulting the woman but denies hitting her with the gun. All the offences are alleged to have occurred at her Clare home on September 9, 2007.

Det Gda Molloy said the man described feeling suicidal because his ex-partner wouldn’t let him see their child and because they had “agreed a hundred times” about her drinking.

The man told gardaí he got to his cousin’s house, let himself in and lay on a bed crying before deciding to take the gun and kill himself.

The man said he loaded the gun and left for his ex-partner’s house in his cousin’s car.

He said he walked around a field to climb in a window at the back of the woman’s home so he would not be seen.

Earlier the woman revealed that the sight of her ex-partner with a gun in his mouth was "one of the worst moments" of the night.

Mr John Phelan SC, defending, asked the woman under cross-examination why she still held his client's hand in the garda car as they were being driven from the scene when she alleges he raped her three times at gunpoint over several hours.

The woman said she dared anyone to watch a person "about to blow their heads off" and "not feel empathy, sympathy and all sorts (of emotion)".

She added: "Even...after everything that he's done I still don't actually wish he was dead."

Mr Phelan asked the woman if it "ever" occurred to her to run and scream for gardaí, whom she knew were in the vicinity, while his client went out her back door to put the shotgun in the car.

The woman explained she felt the garda “plan” for them to both leave the house after the gun was placed in the car was "safe", especially since her ex-partner had her front door keys in his pocket and she could not escape through any of her windows.

She said she used the time it took her ex-partner to leave the gun outside to hide the knife she alleges he used to threaten her with disfigurement.

She agreed she had recently threatened her ex-partner’s cousin over the phone that she was outside his house with a newly bought shotgun, but explained she only wanted to give this cousin a "30 second" experience of how "your heart goes mental" when faced with a gun.

The woman said she had had a number of conversations with the cousin, who had taken her ex-partner's side, about court proceedings and said she felt upset for days after each of these talks.

She agreed with Mr Phelan that she drank a glass of wine before this conversation and had finished the bottle that night.

The cousin told Ms Walley that he did not see the woman outside his house when he checked after the phone call, nor did he see her with a gun.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of seven women and four men.