Man goes on trial for rape of homeless teen

A Dublin man has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with the rape of a homeless teenager nearly two years ago.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to raping the then 19-year-old woman at a Dublin address on October 13, 2008.

Giving evidence on the first day of the trial, the complainant told Ms Mary Ellen Ring SC, prosecuting, that she had been living in a tent in a public park with her boyfriend for a week prior to the alleged attack.

The complainant said that she and her partner awoke early on the morning of October 13 in order to redeem their methadone prescription, before going to drink vodka in a laneway opposite an off-licence which they frequented.

On their second trip of the day to the off-licence to buy a litre bottle of vodka, the complainant said her boyfriend introduced her to another man whom she had never met before.

The complainant said the group of three then walked to the park where the tent was pitched, but that her boyfriend had to return the off-licence as he had forgotten to purchase a mixer for the vodka.

The woman said that when her boyfriend arrived back at the park, he became jealous at the way she and the other man were talking and “ran off”.

She said that the other man then recommended travelling to his apartment after she expressed her dismay at having to spend the night alone in the tent.

At the apartment, the complainant said the man tried to kiss her after he had cooked her a meal, but when she told him to stop he replied that he was sorry and the pair returned to drinking vodka and watching television.

The woman said she then had a bath on the man’s recommendation before falling asleep on a bed after he had left the apartment to purchase some more vodka.

The complainant said that she when she awoke, she found that her clothes had been removed, that her leg had been wrapped around the man and that he was raping her.

The woman told Ms Ring that she told the man to stop and pushed him off , kicking him in the groin as she leapt from the bed and grabbed a pair of trousers.

Making good her escape, the complainant said that she was in a hysterical state as she fell down flights of stairs before bumping into two on-patrol gardaí and telling them she had been raped.

The woman said gardaí then confronted the man and ordered that he retrieve some items of clothing and a pair of shoes for the complainant before bringing her to St James Street Hospital.

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