A man told a jury in a sex trial yesterday he did nothing to help a woman he saw being attacked and dragged off a road and through a school gateway early one morning.
The witness told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, he was cycling to work in Dublin at about 4.45 a.m. when he saw a man run towards the victim and drag her from the road.
The woman was screaming and her attacker glanced at him briefly before disappearing with the victim.
The witness told the Central Criminal Court the incident had lasted for about 50 seconds.
He agreed, however, he did not go to help the woman but continued on his way to work. The court had heard the victim walked across the road to a nearby Garda station after the incident.
He was giving evidence on the first day of the trial of a 21-yearold man who denies attempted rape and sexual assault of the 30year-old woman in the grounds of a school in Dublin early on the morning of January 15th, 1996.
The woman told the court she was attacked by a man as she was walking to work. She described the man who attacked her as being in his mid-20s and dressed in dark clothing.
A milkman said he was driving in the area when he heard screaming which he initially thought was a domestic dispute. He was on the opposite lane of a dual carriageway and he drove on a short distance to collect a colleague to go to the woman's assistance. His assistant had to jump aboard the van as he did not take the time to stop to pick him up.
In the short period of time it took to get to the school the woman was walking out on to the roadway in the direction of the Garda station. They stopped to see if she was all right.
The trial before Mr Justice Carney and a jury continues.