Kerry taxi driver gives evidence at rape trial

A Kerry taxi driver has told a trial that an Australian tourist flagged his car down in the early hours of the morning and claimed she had been raped.

He gave evidence that when he dropped the woman at her accommodation she told him he had saved her life.

The trial at the Central Criminal Court also heard evidence from a doctor said the alleged victim appeared to have bruising to her genital area and body.

The 25-year-old accused, also from Kerry, has pleaded not guilty to rape and four counts of sexual assault on the woman in Kerry on July 8, 2009.

As well as the rape, he is accused of trying to have anal sex with her and performing other sex acts.

The taxi driver told prosecuting counsel, Ms Pauline Walley SC, that he saw a female running towards his car in the early hours and that she seemed distressed and drunk.

She got in and said she had been raped. The driver said he did not look at her for long when she got in because he did not want to “freak her out” and he thought she might be fixing her clothes. He added that he saw a man with orange or blonde hair and an orange t-shirt standing nearby.

He said that during the car journey, the woman was crying and said the accused had threatened to kill her. He said that when he dropped the woman at her accommodation she kissed him on the hand and said he had saved her life.

He said he knew the woman was foreign and thought she may have been American. He told Ms Walley that he did not call the gardaí because she had not given him permission and that he picked up another fair that night before going home.

Dr Deirdra Richardson, a forensic examiner in the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital, said she examined the Australian woman shortly after the alleged attack. She said the woman’s cervix appeared swollen and bruised and there were cuts and bruises on several other parts of her body.

Dr Richardson agreed with defence counsel, Mr Antony Sammon SC, that the woman appeared calm and relaxed during the exam.

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