A Dublin man accused of orally raping his younger brother told gardaí his brother “probably gave me a bit of head”, a jury has heard.
The Central Criminal Court heard on Tuesday that earlier in the same interview with gardaí following his arrest, the accused had said it was “a possibility” he had gotten his brother to give him “head” and that if he had done it then he was “out of his head” or drunk at the time.
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 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.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, a Garda sergeant told Paul Carroll SC, prosecuting, that following the complainant making a statement to gardaí, the accused man was arrested and interviewed in January 2018.
The garda sergeant said that during the interview he asked the accused how he got on with his younger brother and if they spoke. The accused replied that they got on “alright” and that their father would not let his younger brother talk to him.
The sergeant asked what the accused would do to his brothers. The accused replied that he hit them and make them be afraid of him like he was afraid of his father.
He asked the accused why his younger brother alleged he had sexually abused him. The accused replied that their father had told his brother to do that and this was his father’s way of getting back at him.
The sergeant asked how many times he had hit his brother. The accused replied that he could not tell him, that his brother would do something wrong and he would hit him.
The accused said that was “how I kept him under control”, and that his father had kept him under control in the same way “only worse”.
The sergeant asked him if he ever gave his younger brother jobs to go “robbing”. The accused replied that he probably had and that he would be “robbing” houses as well.
He asked if he would get his younger brothers to fight each other. The accused replied that he did, that it was what his father used to do and these are all habits he got from him.
The sergeant asked why he got his younger brother to perform oral sex on him. The accused replied that he did not remember any of this and he was not saying he did it, but if he did it he was “out of his head” or drunk.
He asked if he ever got his younger brother to give him “head”. The accused replied that it is “a possibility”.
The sergeant asked what he did to his brother and what his brother did to him sexually. The accused replied his younger brother “probably gave me a bit of head”.
Asked if this happen many times, the accused replied that this happened “once or twice”.
The sergeant asked if it was correct that he had gotten his younger brother to suck his penis in an upstairs bedroom. The accused replied that was not correct and that it was in the sitting room downstairs when no one else was in.
He asked if he made his younger brother do this to control him. The accused replied no, that he was drunk and out of his head on “E” and that he did not even remember all this.
The sergeant agreed with Kathleen Leader SC, defending, that her client was arrested on the date of the interview by a Garda colleague.
Ms Leader put it to the sergeant that his Garda colleague thought she had seen her client ingest a street deal of heroin prior to his arrest. The sergeant replied that he accepted the accused had ingested an item, but he had no idea what he had ingested.
Counsel put it to him that her client took some methadone in the Garda station prior to being interviewed. The sergeant replied that her client was given methadone by a doctor who also declared that her client was fit to be interviewed.
Ms Leader asked the sergeant if her client’s father was ever arrested in relation to allegations her client made during the interview.
The sergeant replied that her client was invited to come back later to make a statement if he wanted to make a complaint. He said that as this did not happen there were no grounds to arrest the accused’s father.
The trial continues Wednesday before Justice Michael White and the jury.