Teen denies rape on St Patrick’s Day
A young woman visiting Killarney for St Patrick’s Day celebrations was raped by a 15-year-old, it was alleged as he went on trial today.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and attempted anal rape at the Central Criminal Court in Cork. He is now 17 and denies both charges which relate to alleged events at an address in Killarney, Co Kerry, on St Patrick’s Day, 2017.
Alice Fawsitt, prosecuting, outlined what she anticipated the evidence would be but stressed that this was not itself evidence.
The defence is that while intercourse did take place between the two that evening, it was entirely consensual. The complainant was 19 years old at the time while the defendant was 15.
Ms Fawsitt said the young woman travelled to Killarney with two female friends and that the complainant met the defendant in a nightclub. She went into a smoking area with him and twice rebuffed his attempts to kiss her. She became separated from her friends and eventually went back to a different Killarney B&B where the defendant was staying with others.
Ms Fawsitt said that, during the evening, a confrontation occurred between the complainant and another young woman. She said the complainant suffered an assault in which she sustained a bad bite mark as well as injuries to her face and arms. After this beating, she was lying on the floor between two beds, said Ms Fawsitt.
It will be claimed the defendant then approached the young woman, unzipped her trouser suit from behind, pulled down her pants and her thong, and then attempted to have anal sex with the young woman. Having failed to have anal sex with her, the young woman will say the defendant then had vaginal intercourse with her, and that afterwards, the defendant allegedly smirked at her before getting into one of the beds.
The woman got a taxi back to her own B&B and, because she was in a very distressed state, her friends alerted the gardaí the next morning, claimed Ms Fawsitt.
The case continues today.
