Victim of alleged rape was naked with Jackson in bed, court hears
A FRIEND of two Ulster rugby players accused of rape told police he found the alleged victim “fully naked” in bed with Paddy Jackson, a court has heard.
Blane McIlroy, who denies one charge of exposure, also told officers the complainant had put her hands down his trousers, performed oral sex on him for 10 seconds and had tried to kiss him before following Jackson up the stairs to his room, Belfast Crown Court heard.
Ireland player Mr Jackson (26) denies rape and one charge of sexual assault. His teammate Stuart Olding (24) also denies rape. A fourth man, 25-year-old Rory Harrison, denies perverting the course of justice and withholding information.
Earlier, the jury heard a tape recording of a police interview with Mr Olding on June
30, 2016 – two days after the alleged rape
– who said he had not forced the woman to perform oral sex on him.
Hearing Mr McIlroy’s account of events at the centre of the case for the first time, the court heard he had walked into Mr
Jackson’s bedroom hoping to go to sleep but found his friend naked in bed with the complainant. When asked if either appeared to be embarrassed, Mr McIlroy told police: “No. She didn’t try to cover herself up or anything.” He later described her as “giddy”.
Mr McIlroy told detectives Mr Jackson had told him to “come in for a chat”, adding that the woman “seemed fine” and that he saw no sign of “any sort of distress or discomfort”. The court heard Mr McIlroy told police he and the woman had kissed before she put her hand “fully” down his trousers and “grabbed” his penis. He said: “She was masturbating me and then eventually after a minute or so she gave me oral sex for about 10 seconds. Then Paddy was still fooling around with her and I think he was going to have sex with her again.”
It was then, Mr McIlroy told detectives, that sexual activity stopped. “She said, ‘woah, you’re not even wearing a condom’. So I said I’d go and find one,” he told police.
Mr McIlroy said by this time his trousers and pants were down and he went downstairs naked to ask Mr Harrison for a condom before checking in another room upstairs to see if Mr Olding had one. He then returned to Mr Jackson’s room without one. It was at this point, the court heard, he saw the complainant getting dressed to leave.
“I said, ‘what’s wrong, where are you going?’ ” Mr McIlroy told police. “She was saying ‘I don’t usually do this, I need to get a taxi. I don’t usually have onenight stands’.” When asked how he felt about this, Mr McIlroy said: “I thought she just had regrets.” He added: “She seemed fine. She wasn’t upset. She said, ‘Oh my God, this isn’t like me’ but she wasn’t upset or crying about it.”
In the course of his interview, Mr McIlroy said he was “shocked” when Mr Harrison called to tell him Mr Jackson and Mr Olding had been taken in for questioning. When asked if Mr Harrison told him what they were being questioned about, Mr McIlory said: “He said ‘a girl from Monday night might have cried rape’ is what he said.”
He told officers: “She never once said ‘stop’ or ‘I don’t want to do this’.” The trial continues.