Judge summarises evidence at Limerick racecourse rape trial

Teenagers accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at a Christmas race meeting

Two of the boys are charged with raping and sexually assaulting a girl in a car and one is charged with aiding and abetting them and falsely imprisoning the girl.

The trial judge in the case against a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at a Christmas race meeting in Limerick addressed the eleven-person jury throughout today.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott addressed the two men and nine women of the jury on legal principles pertaining to the case and also summarised evidence which they heard since the trial commenced on March 11.

One of the twelve jurors sworn in on that date became ill during the trial and was discharged from hearing the case against three teenagers. Two are accused of raping and sexually assaulting the girl. The third defendant is charged with aiding and abetting them and falsely imprisoning the girl in a car.

It is alleged that the contested incidents occurred in a car in a field car park at Limerick racecourse at Patrickswell, Co Limerick, on December 26 2022.

Dean Kelly, prosecution senior counsel, said the three defendants acted as a group in carrying out the offences with which they are charged. Defence senior counsels, Tom Creed, Vincent Heneghan, and Brian McInerney, for the three defendants said the prosecution had not reached the point of proving any of the counts beyond reasonable doubt. The defence also said that by the complainant’s own account she did consent to some interaction that afternoon. They argued that while the prosecution said it was consent up to a point, it was not clear where that point was.

The disputed events in the car relate to a period of somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes, the prosecution allege.

Mr Kelly, prosecution senior counsel, said at the outset that it may be the most normal thing for a juror to have sympathies for the complainant, or for the accused because they are so young, but he said they must approach their work as jurors coldly and dispassionately.

The case continues.