Man on trial for raping his wife with household objects found not guilty on four charges
The 48-year-old man had pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of raping his wife on unknown dates between January 1, 2005 and September 5, 2014.
A Dublin man who was on trial accused of raping his wife with various household objects while she was passed out has been found not guilty of four charges against him.
The 48-year-old man, who can't be named to protect the identity of his former wife, had pleaded not guilty to 15 counts of raping her on unknown dates between January 1, 2005 and September 5, 2014.
The jury in the Central Criminal Court trial returned four not guilty verdicts on Friday after nearly eight hours of deliberating. They were unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 11 counts.
The man bowed his head as the majority verdicts were handed down, while the woman left court before they were fully delivered. Some of the jurors were in tears.
During the two week trial, the prosecution alleged the man sexually assaulted his wife by penetrating her vagina with various objects including a knife, a cheese grater, a bottle, a carrot, a banana, a cucumber, a tulip, a wooden spatula, a decanter stopper, part of a shoe, a bicycle pump, a deodorant bottle and his finger.
He was also charged with one count of anal rape and one count of penetrating the woman’s anus with his thumb.
The jury found him not guilty of one count of raping her with a deodorant bottle, one count of raping her with his finger, and the two anal rape counts.
Mr Justice Paul Burns thanked the jury for its service. He noted it was not an easy trial to sit through, “particularly looking at some of the images”. He excused them from jury duty for seven years.
He adjourned the matter for mention on November 7.
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