A Spanish tourist who claims she was raped by an Irish man while celebrating New Year’s Eve 2018 in Dublin has given a jury her account of what happened.
The man, who’s in his 30s and can't be identified due to the nature of the charge, claims what happened between them on a street near Dublin Castle was consensual.
With the assistance of a Spanish translator, the woman told the jury she got talking to a man while standing alone outside a shop in Dublin city in the early hours of New Years Day 2019.
She wanted to find a bar where her friend was and remembered “walking loads” with him and holding onto him quite strongly because she felt unwell and unstable.
When they stopped in a dark area, she said she felt confused because they hadn’t arrived at the bar she was looking for.
She said she didn’t have a clear memory of what happened next but remembered him holding on to her waist tightly and that’s when she believes he raped her.
She said she felt “like a doll” with no strength in her body.
It is the prosecution’s case that she didn’t consent to it and that she was incapable of consenting because of the effects of alcohol.
The accused man denies rape, claiming what happened was consensual.
A Garda station. Image: Alamy
