THE TRIAL OF four men accused of various sexual offences against a woman in her home almost five years ago has collapsed at the Central Criminal Court, after all charges against the men were dropped.
The men, who all have addresses in Dublin, are alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted the woman at her home between 8 and 9 December 2018.
Reporting restrictions apply to the identity of all participants in the trial.
The first accused, aged 25, had pleaded not guilty to oral rape and sexual assault.
The second accused, also aged 25, had pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault.
The third accused, aged 23, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape, one oral rape and a sexual assault.
The fourth accused, aged 24, had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and sexual assault.
Earlier this week, while the woman was being cross-examined by Dominic McGinn SC defending the first accused, she became upset in the witness box and asked for permission to take a break.
Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, later told Mr Justice David Keane that the woman was undergoing psychiatric treatment for an ongoing issue with her mental health. She said the State were liaising with the woman’s doctor to see if the woman was fit to continue with her evidence in the trial.
Rowland indicated on Tuesday that due to medical advice, the State wished to apply to the court to allow for the woman to continue her evidence via video link. The State was not successful in this application.
Yesterday, Rowland told the court that the woman was not able to continue to give her evidence and she said the State wished to enter a nolle prosequi on each of the counts faced by each of the men, meaning all charges against the men were dropped.
Today, Mr Justice Keane spoke directly to the jury and said: “You have been here for three weeks, and unfortunately, the trial did not come to a natural conclusion.”
He said: “Our legal system, society and democracy depend on you.”
He noted the subject matter made the jury experience particularly difficult and challenging. He told the jury they were now exempt from jury service for 15 years as an expression of thanks from the State.
Mr Justice Keane reminded the jury that the complainant is entitled to lifelong anonymity, and further, each of the accused is also entitled to lifelong anonymity.
The now 24-year-old woman told Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, that both her mother and her sister were not going to be at home on the night of 8 December and as she was scared to be at home alone, she contacted the first accused and asked if he would stay with her.
She said she had met the first accused through another friend and had been in a regular communication with him and had met up with him previously. He had also previously visited her at her home.
The woman said the first accused arrived to her home and although she was only expecting him, there were three other men with him. She said she asked him what they were doing there. The men came into the house and there was discussion about “weed” and they asked if she had any drink.
She said her home tends to get cold downstairs so the group moved upstairs where it was usually warmer.
The group were in her room and there was general conversation, with the four men speaking together in a second language that she didn’t understand.
The woman said she went to the bathroom and when she came out the men pulled down her trousers and all four men began “slapping my bum”. She said she asked the first accused to stop and told the jury she was sore.
She agreed with Rowland that there had been some phone conversations with the first accused earlier in the day when he suggested to her that they could have sex. She said she thought the man was joking and did not give him any indication that she would have sex with him.
She said when the slapping eventually stopped – the first accused and another man left her room and she was left in her bedroom with two of the men. She said one of these men asked her to give him oral sex.
She said she didn’t want to but he pulled down his trousers and forced her by pulling her towards himself.
The woman said she was calling for the first accused and couldn’t understand how he could let these men do this to her.
She said the first accused eventually came back into the room and the man who had forced her to perform oral sex pulled up his trousers. She went back into the bathroom.
The woman told the jury that her brain had tried to block the incidents out. She said she was pulled out of the bathroom but she couldn’t recall what man pulled her out of the bathroom. She was brought into her mother’s room.
She said the men followed her and one was lying on the bed, while another man “came up behind me” and sexually assaulted her by putting his fingers in her vagina.
The first accused came into the room and she said he seemed to be recording what was happening on some form of social media.
The woman said, she couldn’t recall what room she was in, but at some point, she was forced to give one of the men another blow job.
She explained how she was trying to contact another friend to come to her home, but he replied “What do you want me for? You have enough company down there with you.” She told the jury she didn’t know how her friend knew that there were people in her home, as she had not told him.
The woman said she returned again at some point to her own bedroom and one of the other men asked her to have sex with him. He pulled down her underwear and pushed her down “and he just started raping me”, she said.
The woman said the first accused also approached and was “adamant” that she would perform oral sex on him. She said didn’t want to. The woman began to cry before the jury and said she had trusted this man and didn’t know why he didn’t stop the other men.
The woman said she performed oral sex on the first accused but she said she did not consent to this sexual activity.
She said the first accused left the room and there was a man remaining in the room who locked the door. She said this man asked her to let him have sex with her and she said “no” but “He put a condom on and he started raping me.”
She said she again called for the first accused. She was upset that he was not helping her.
The woman said she eventually got out of the room and went to the bathroom. She said she was sore and was bleeding.
She said the men eventually left but she couldn’t recall if they left together or separately.
The woman said her friend arrived. She told him what had happened and the gardaí were contacted and she was taken to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in her local hospital.
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