Evidence concludes in Donegal rape trial

A man accused of raping his housemate in Donegal has claimed in evidence that he would never risk attacking a woman because the IRA would punish him.
The 38-year-old accused claimed that the woman asked him to have sex with her and led him into her bedroom but later threatened to call the gardai.
He has pleaded not guilty to orally raping and sexually assaulting the 20-year-old woman in a County Donegal house on October 30, 2010.
The 38-year-old man has denied an accusation by prosecuting counsel that he was engaging in “cheap and disgusting dishonesty” and had “manufactured a script” of the events to suit his own defence.
The accused claimed that if he had attacked the woman the IRA would deport him.
He told his counsel that he arrived at his rented house and met the woman for the first time in the kitchen. She had recently become a tenant in the house.
He said the woman was upset about a family member who had been involved in an accident and she hugged him.  He said this led to kissing before she led him to her room, undressed and said she wanted to have sex with him.
He claimed they were “having the beginnings of sex” when the woman said: “Please don’t kill me.”
He said he was shocked by this and got out of bed. As he tried to get away she grabbed him in a headlock and they both fell to the floor where they struggled for a few minutes, he claimed.
He said she then threatened to tell the gardai that he forced his way into her room and raped her.
The accused said that he went downstairs and was watching television when the woman sat beside him, apologised and offered to make him something to eat.Evidence has concluded in the case. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and the jury of five women and seven men will hear closing speeches today.