A woman raped by two men after she blacked out drunk at a house party has said the attacks ruined her life and shattered her trust in people. Last November, a jury at the Central Criminal Court convicted two Leitrim men of rape and oral rape respectively of the woman in a flat in a town in the county on a date in 2017.
Their lawyers told Justice Eileen Creedon yesterday the men continue to deny the offending and do not accept the jury’s verdicts.
The men, aged in their early 20s and known to the complainant from school, cannot be named in order to ensure the anonymity of the victim.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
Both had pleaded not guilty to rape in a flat while the second man also denied a charge of oral rape of the woman.
Witnesses told the trial the first man came out of the bedroom telling other men at the party that he had sex with the woman and showing scrapes on his back from that.
A photograph of his back was then circulated on the «Snapchat» app. There was also evidence the second man later said he would go down to the room and «chance a bl**j**».
The jury found the first man guilty of rape and the second man guilty of oral rape. They failed to reach an agreement on the count of rape against the second man.
After the sentence hearing, Justice Creedon said she needed to consider the evidence and adjourned the case to February 17.
Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, told the court that the victim had been drinking in a local pub earlier in the night and speaking to the first accused.
They and others had gone back to his flat for a party.
On the way to the flat, there was a brief kiss between the victim and the first accused.
The woman told the trial she had no further memory of the night until she awoke in the first man’s bed with the man raping her.
She said he hit her across the face with an open hand a number of times and was using his other hand to choke her.
She said when he let go eventually, she was gasping for breath.
Свежие комментарии