Galway Bay fm newsroom:
The trial of a Galway man accused of orally raping a woman while giving her a lift home has reached its closing stages
The Central Criminal Court heard that the man told gardaí they had a consensual encounter which “felt chemical”
The 46 year old man who can't be named for legal reasons, has pleaded NOT GUILTY to one charge of oral rape at a Galway location in the early hours of November 5, 2015.
A local detective told Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, that the man said the complainant had indicated to him that he could drive towards this vantage point during the lift.
The accused said they hugged each other at this location and had a “fairly passionate kiss” before he pulled his van about 20 meters into a nearby housing estate.
He said the encounter lasted only a few seconds before the complainant started repeating, “I've a boyfriend”.
The man said she then put her head back in the vehicle and “seemed suddenly out of it” by being unresponsive.
He told gardaí that the complainant sprang upright again and started shouting at him to get away from her.
He said she demanded her phone and wanted him to drive her to a garda station.
The detective told Mr Burns that the accused said he drove off feeling “panicky” when the complainant got out of his van.
He said he got home and went to bed “very shook”, but didn't sleep.
The detective agreed that the accused later answered all Garda questions voluntarily and had no previous convictions.
The trial has reached its closing stages before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of four women and eight men. It resumes tomorrow.
