A Scottish woman has told a jury at the Central Criminal Court that she was beaten, tied up and raped by an ex-boyfriend when they shared a house together in a Donegal town.
The 26-year-old accused, who is also from Scotland, has pleaded not guilty to raping the woman on April 10th, 2000. He has pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman causing her harm and to unlawful possession of her car.
The 27-year-old woman told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting, that the attack happened after she returned home from the pub and the pair had argued.
She said she returned to the house at about 1.30am with two male friends and was admitted by the accused.
She went upstairs to put her alarm on. The other two men went into the sitting room. The accused then came into her bedroom and started shouting at her.
She became "really scared" and hid in the wardrobe. The accused went to speak to the two friends. She heard him shouting and eventually the front door closed.
She said the accused tore off the wardrobe doors and pulled her out. He began strangling her and hitting her. He tied her hands to the bed rail and raped her.
She rang the gardaí from the bathroom but when she raised her voice the accused burst in and beat her again. She smashed a window and shouted for help but the man returned with a knife in his hand. The pair wrestled and the next thing she remembered was waking up at the bottom of the stairs and the front door was open. She ran to a neighbour's house and the gardaí were called.
Cross-examined by Mr George Birmingham SC, she denied that she had consensual sex with the accused before she went to the pub that night.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Barry White.