Man pleads guilty to rape of woman in Kinsale

The 49-year-old man pleaded guilty to the charge which related to July 21, 2019.

 A 20-year-old woman was raped in Kinsale and now the 49-year-old man facing the prospect of a trial by judge and jury has pleaded guilty to the crime.

The case was listed at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork.

Defence senior counsel Elizabeth O’Connell said there were two counts on the indictment and that by agreement with the prosecution the accused could be arraigned on a single count.

The 49-year-old man then pleaded guilty to the charge which related to July 21, 2019 where the particulars of the charge stated that the accused man put his penis in the young woman’s vagina knowing she did not consent or being reckless as to whether or not she consented.

Ms O’Connell SC said: “I understand the state would like a victim impact statement and we are obviously entirely amenable to that.” 

Mr Justice Michael McGrath put the matter into the list on July 13 with the accused remanded in custody until then.

It is anticipated that the case may be sentenced on that date or possibly later next week.

The judge asked if the defence were seeking a probation report on the accused in advance of sentencing.

Ms O’Connell said that if she did seek such a report it would probably not be available until September or October. 

In that event she said the defence would rely instead on a report from what Ms O’Connell described as an equivalent source.

No evidence was given in court in relation to the incident that gave rise to the rape charge.