EIGHT GRUELLING DAYS IN WITNESS STAND

The Young Woman

THE young woman who had accused two rugby players of raping her stood firmly by her version of event even when being vigorously cross-examined by four eminent barristers.

Aged only 19 when the alleged attack took place, the complainant first took to the wooden box in courtroom 12 of Belfast Crown Court on January 31, taking her position behind a purple curtain which allowed her to see the jury in front of her and Judge Patricia Smyth.

The rest of the courtroom, including the four defendants and their families, members of the public and the gathered media were able to see the young woman on a screen as she gave her often emotional and harrowing account of the night at the centre of high profile rape trial.

As she gave evidence for the first time, she broke down in tears as she claimed that Mr Jackson had attacked her first in a bedroom in his house after a night out at Ollie’s nightclub and how she froze rather than fought.

The young woman had told the court that after the consensual kiss with Mr Jackson in his bedroom, which he had instigated, she firmly told him she was not interested in things going further when he started to undo her trousers and she left the room.

On the first day of cross-examination by Mr Jackson’s barrister, Brendan Kelly QC suggested to her it was his client who left the room first because he became ‘tired of your teasing’.

The woman, who is now 21, responded firmly: ‘I was not teasing Patrick Jackson.’ When asked when she had become attracted to Mr Jackson, she replied: ‘I was never attracted to Patrick Jackson.

‘Yes, I kissed him but that was instigated by Patrick Jackson.

‘You do not have to be attracted to someone to not turn away a kiss.’

When probed further by the eminent barrister about consent for the kiss, the woman responded: ‘Yes it was but that’s not indicative of consent for anything else.’

During the gruelling eight days of questioning, the young woman was publicly questioned on intimate details regarding the date in question.

The clothing and underwear she wore on the night in question were shown to the court, while the room also heard that the complainant said she had no intention of having sex that night, and therefore had not tanned her whole body.