Cork rape trial nears end

The trial of a man accused of raping a woman in a public toilet in a Cork town has reached its closing stages.

The jury have heard closing speeches from defence and prosecution counsel and have begun hearing a summary of the evidence by Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy. They will begin their deliberations tomorrow after the judge finishes his summation of the 10 days of evidence.

The 36-year-old foreign national has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 12 counts including rape, oral rape, anal rape, threats to kill, assault causing harm, sexual assault and false imprisonment during the attack on the woman on the afternoon of March 9, 2010.

The woman claimed in evidence that she was dragged into a cubicle when she was drying her hands at the sink. She had been running errands in the town beforehand.

She said she was subjected to around half an hour of rape and sexual violence before her attacker let her go. She also said he was wearing women’s underwear during the attack.

Ms Úna Ní Raifeartaigh SC, prosecuting, earlier told the jury that it was not a “consent case”, meaning the defendant does not claim he had consensual sex with the woman.

“I don’t think at the end of the evidence you will be in any doubt that (the woman) was raped,” she told the jury. “The question is whether it was (the accused) or someone else.”