Two boys who were aged 13 and 15 when they allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl in a car during a St Stephen’s Day race meeting have gone on trial in Cork.
A sitting of the Central Criminal Court in the city heard that the teenagers, who are now 15 and 17, allegedly raped and sexually assaulted a secondary school student in a car at Limerick racecourse in Patrickswell, Co Limerick, on December 26th, 2022.
A third teenager, who is now 17 but was 15 at the time of the alleged offence, is charged with aiding the abetting the two youths to commit sexual assault and rape. He also faces a charge of falsely imprisoning the girl.
The case opened on Tuesday before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of nine women and three men. Prosecution Senior Counsel, Dean Kelly, gave the jury a brief outline of the evidence that is expected in the case. He emphasised, however, that this was a “thumbnail sketch” and not evidence in itself.
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Two teenage boys go on trial accused of raping 16-year-old girl at St Stephen’s Day race meeting
He said that the girl went to the house of a friend on December 26th, 2022, in order to get dressed for the races. He indicated that it was the type of race meeting which doubled as a social occasion and involved the donning of the “best dresses and suits” of attendees. Some drinks were had and the friends got a taxi to Patrickswell.
Mr Kelly said that the three accused youths were at the racecourse on the day of the alleged offence. It is the case of the State that the teenagers were in the company of the complainant whom they met for the first time that day. It is alleged that they all ended up leaving the pavilion area to go to a car park in a field area.
Mr Kelly said that it is the case of the prosecution that the first defendant had sexual intercourse “against the will” of the young girl. It is also alleged that that the second defendant did the same with the third defendant “assisting that enterprise”.
He said that it was case of the State that the intercourse and sexualised touching, which allegedly took place in a car, was not consensual.
Mr Kelly stressed the third defendant was not by his mere presence guilty of a crime. He said that it was the job of the prosecution to prove that he assisted the other two youths.
He said that standing by or doing nothing when a sexual offence was being carried out, while “abhorrent” or “shameful”, was not enough to make the youth guilty of a criminal offence.
“Some assistance must be offered by that person.”
Mr Kelly said that the alleged events occurred over a period of between twenty and forty minutes in the middle of the afternoon of December 26th, 2022. He told the jurors that they had a “difficult job” to do but warned them against feeling sympathetic towards the complainant or even the accused. Mr Kelly asked that the jurors be “cold and dispassionate in weighing up the evidence in the case”.
Meanwhile, Garda Amanda Ryan, of Henry Street Garda station, said in evidence that the complainant arrived at the station at 8.30pm on December 26th, 2022 in the presence of her parents. A complaint of rape was made. The parents of the complainant signed a consent form to facilitate her attendance at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit. The case will resume on Wednesday at 11am and is expected to last up to three weeks.
