Olding’s lawyer: Why were there no screams?
Police probe was flawed, jury in rugby trial is told
THE police investigation into the alleged rape of a woman by rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding failed to ask the victim why she had not screamed, a defence barrister told the jury.
The barrister for Mr Olding outlined more than a dozen questions he believed should have been put to the complainant by police. Mr Olding denies orally raping the woman in June 2016.
Giving his closing argument at Belfast Crown Court, Frank O’Donoghue QC said police should have asked: ‘Why did she not say no? Why did she open her mouth? Why didn’t she scream? A lot of very middleclass girls were downstairs; they were not going to tolerate a rape or anything like that. Why didn’t she scream the house down?’
The police investigation was flawed, he further suggested.
He put it to the court: ‘You have an ABE [achieving best evidence] interview devoid of detail on the allegation that was an assumption of force. And a police force that never truly studied what’s being said and what questions needed to be asked.
‘If you look at the evidence in chief, it is, of necessity, completely devoid of relevant and essential detail,’ he said. He also said it was of ‘hopeless quality’.
The investigation of the woman’s allegations against Mr Olding was ‘at best poor’ and ‘at worst, virtually non-existent’.
Prosecution allegations of a ‘conspiracy’ between all four defendants were also dealt with during the lengthy speech.
Mr O’Donoghue said Mr Olding’s police interviews in which he gave a ‘frank’ account of events were proof of truth.
‘He told them that he had eight cans of Carlsberg, four pints of Guinness, two gin and tonics, five vodkas and lemonade, and three shots over the course of the evening. That sounds like a really good conspiracy, doesn’t it?’ the barrister asked the jury. ‘He’s not afraid to tell police a fact or facts that do not weigh in his favour. It is hardly in his favour to tell the police he had 20 alcoholic drinks.’
The lawyer suggested Mr Olding’s accounts were further ‘verified’ by independent witnesses. He is ‘credible but also inherently reliable. You can rely on what he has said,’ added Mr O’Donoghue. ‘This is why there is not only reasonable doubt about this belated allegation but also it proves the innocence of Stuart Olding in relation to this allegation.’
The prosecution allege that 25year old Mr Olding, from Ardenlee Street, Belfast, forced the woman to perform oral sex.
But Mr O’Donoghue suggested: ‘Mr Olding has made the case that the act was entirely consensual.’
The lawyer invited jurors to ‘study the evidence’ in order to ‘root out’ inconsistencies. ‘Do not judge the book by its cover. Do not assume that because an account appears plausible it must therefore be true.’
He said: ‘It does not come remotely near the required standard to render you sure that Stuart Olding orally raped the complainant in June 2016.
‘If, on the evidence, you cannot be sure, then it is your duty to acquit. We, the court, the jury, must never be party to any miscarriage of justice. We must avoid that at all costs.’
Mr O’Donoghue said Mr Olding has welcomed the opportunity
‘Career has been badly damaged’
to put his account before a jury. ‘Finally that someone might listen to him and decide, he told the truth, warts and all. The reality is there was no rape by Stuart Olding. There is no case here. There was no force used. There was consent on both sides.
‘Perhaps a matter of regret now to all parties, but such is life.’
The remarks were made as Mr O’Donoghue ended his two-hour closing submission to the jury of eight men and three women.
He told them: ‘Stuart Olding is innocent in this charge. I implore you to do your duty.’
Mr Olding’s team-mate and friend, Paddy Jackson, 26, from Oakleigh Park in the city, also denies rape and a further charge of sexual assault. Two other men are also on trial: Blane McIlroy, 26, from Royal Lodge Road denies exposure while Rory Harrison, 25, from Manse Road, both Belfast, denies perverting the course of justice and withholding information.
Mr O’Donoghue earlier suggested his client had been let down ‘very, very badly’ by the authorities, saying the case was ‘never properly investigated’.
‘He has asked no favours, he has pulled no strings,’ the barrister said. ‘His career has been very badly damaged as a result of what has happened.’
The court heard Mr Olding had returned from a tour of South Africa, having regained his place on the Irish team after two years of career-threatening injuries.
Mr O’Donoghue said: ‘His career was on the up. He had everything to live for. You have seen him on CCTV. You have seen him in photographs. He had been on the go for at least 24 hours, if not more.
‘Was he someone who was going out to rape someone? A man with no history of violence; I suggest even the suggestion is nonsense.’
Referring to explicit WhatsApp messages in which Mr Olding bragged about sexual exploits to friends the morning after, Mr O’Donoghue said he had simply been ‘acting the big lad’.
Mr O’Donoghue said: ‘He is suitably ashamed of what he wrote. But nowhere in his texts will you find one word that comes remotely near that anything that he was involved in was non-consensual.’
The case continues.