A Dublin man accused of orally raping his younger brother allegedly attacked another brother who walked in during an incident of abuse until he agreed not to tell anyone, a jury has heard.
The accused man (36), who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of orally raping his then 11-year-old younger brother and beating him “nearly every day” until his brother left the family home when he was 16.
The Central Criminal Court has heard that the man is alleged to have once put the barrel of a loaded shotgun in his younger brother's mouth.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to 10 sample counts of oral rape at the family home in Dublin on dates between March 28th, 2001 and March 27th, 2006.
He has also pleaded not guilty to seven counts of assault causing harm and one count of production of an article to unlawfully intimidate at the same address during the same period.
On the second day of the trial, a third brother told Paul Carroll SC, prosecuting, that the accused was physically abusive towards the complainant “most days” and that he would hit him with objects.
The man said the accused used his younger brother “for a dartboard”. He said he remembered the complainant’s whole foot being black from dried blood because of darts going in many times.
He said he remembered going into a bedroom in the family home and seeing the accused man on the top bunk with a blanket over him. He said he asked where the complainant was and the accused man started laughing.
The man said the complainant popped his head up from under the blanket and he saw the accused pulling his boxers up. He said he knew what the accused was doing then, but that the accused started hitting him and put a pillow over his face under he agreed he would not say anything.
He said he remembered the accused having a shotgun and once saw him firing it at trees.
Kathleen Leader SC, defending, put it to the witness that her client says he was violent, but not to the extent he had been painted in court as being and that the man was exaggerating. The witness replied that he had never exaggerated anything.
Ms Leader said that her client says the sexual abuse simply did not happen. The man replied that the accused "is a liar".
Counsel said the complainant had said earlier in the trial that the man had walked into the bedroom while he was being sexually assaulted by the accused, but that he had never said that before to gardaí.
The man rejected the submission of counsel that he had spoken with the complainant about this. He said it did happen and that something would have to be wrong with him to make something like that up.
Another sibling told Mr Carroll that she remembered the accused making a stick with nails and glass in it and beating the complainant with it "so hard that he had holes in his back".
She said the accused man made the complainant and another of her brothers fight. She said they did not want to fight, but they were “so afraid”.
The woman said she remembered the accused having a handgun and hitting his younger brother with it in the eye. She said she also remembered him hitting his younger brother’s head against walls.
She said the accused made his younger brother go “robbing”.
Ms Leader suggested to the woman that her recollection is not entirely accurate because of her age at the time. The woman replied that she would always remember the abuse and it did not matter what age you were.
The woman agreed with counsel that she does not speak to the accused man now. She denied that she had spoken to the rest of her family about her evidence.
The trial continues Friday before Justice Michael White and the jury.