The jury in the trial of two men accused of rape and sexual assault in Kerry has been told compassion and sympathy have no place in their deliberations.
The two men, who cannot be named, face a total of eight charges of rape and sexual assault altogether, relating to an alleged incident in the summer of 2020 at a rural location in Kerry.
The complainant, who was 16 years old at the time of the alleged assaults, says she did not consent to any sexual activity on the night in question, and was too intoxicated to give consent.
The jury in the Central Criminal Court trial heard the closing arguments from Mark Nicholas, Senior Counsel for one of the accused men, yesterday afternoon at Tralee courthouse.
One of the accused men was described as being an item with the complainant at the time, while the court was told that the complainant had never met the co-accused before the night in question.
It’s alleged that the two accused raped and sexually assaulted her in a wooded area close to the complainant’s home, after she and a friend had sneaked out of the house to meet them having been drinking that night.
The defence’s argument is that all sexual activity which occurred that night was consensual.
Defending the first accused, Mark Nicholas SC said everything in the prosecution’s case is tipping towards inconsistencies.
He told the court there seems to be a willingness to boost the story of intoxication by the complainant, as there was confusion over the number of drinks consumed, to bolster the proposition she was “well out of it”.
Mr Nicholas said the complainant managed to sneak out of the house unbeknownst to her family, walk down to a nearby area, and talked to her mother over the phone after the alleged incidents, which imply she was in the zone and not as drunk as being made out.
Mr Nicholas told the court that being drunk does not mean you cannot give consent, and failure to recall does not mean lack of consent.
He added that this was a drunken encounter the complainant regrets, but regret doesn’t unwind consent.
Mr Nicholas told the jury that his client acknowledges sexual activity took place, that he regrets letting the co-accused kiss and touch the complainant, and that he did a moral wrong, but that this was not a crime, and all activity was consensual.
Mr Nicholas also told the court that it was extraordinary and highly implausible that the complainant’s best friend did not do anything when one of alleged sexual assaults, which involved forced oral sex, took place in front of the other people present.
The closing argument for the co-accused will be heard later today.
