A young woman woke up after a drinking session in a friend's house to find another guest having sex with her, it was alleged to a Dublin jury yesterday. Mr Liam Reidy SC, prosecuting, said it would be claimed the man smiled or smirked at the 17-year-old and she tried to push him away. She woke a female friend who was sharing the single bed with her.
The alleged victim was crying and she went into the bathroom with her friend. Her underwear was gone even though she had gone to bed in a shirt, bra and pants, said counsel.
Mr Reidy was opening the case against a 20-year-old Dublin man who has pleaded not guilty in the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman, now aged 19, on May 25th, 1996.
Counsel said it was the State's case that the man "deliberately got into the bed and deliberately began having sex while she could not consent because she was asleep". Gardai were informed of the alleged incident some days later and when gardai spoke to the defendant on May 31st, 1996, he denied raping her.
The trial, before Mr Justice Budd and a jury, continues.