‘A throwback to days of male entitlement’
Prosecution closes as Ulster rugby rape trial enters its final stages
THE alleged rape of a woman by two Ireland and Ulster rugby players represents “a throwback to the days of male entitlement”, a court has been told.
Prosecutor Toby Hedworth QC made the claim as he began his closing speech at Belfast Crown Court. He said: “The law of this land says that a young woman is allowed to say no, and any such no not only should be heeded but must be heeded.”
“What happened in Patrick Jackson’s bedroom in the early hours of June 28, 2016, represents, we say, a throwback to the days of male entitlement,” he added.
Paddy Jackson (26) from Belfast’s Oakleigh Park, and Stuart Olding (25) from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the same woman after a night out in Belfast on June 28, 2016. Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.
Defence barrister Brendan Kelly argued that the prosecution case was “critically flawed”. “It is critically flawed by inconsistencies and it is flawed by untruth; flawed, we will submit, to its core,” he said.
“You need to be convinced. Convinced of a man’s guilt before you can convict,” Mr Kelly told the jury. “If you are less than sure, your duty is to acquit. It is as stark as that.”
THE alleged rape of a woman by two Ireland and Ulster rugby players represented “a throwback to the days of male entitlement”, a court has been told.
The claim was made as prosecutor Toby Hedworth QC began his closing speech at Belfast Crown Court. He said: “The law of this land says that a young woman is allowed to say ‘no’, and any such ‘no’ not only should be heeded but must be heeded.
“The law does not say, ‘Oh well, you let me kiss you so I should force myself upon you and I, the male, will decide how far this will go’. The law is not, ‘if she was up for something then I and my friends, if they fancy, can join and can effectively do as I and they please’.
“What happened in Patrick Jackson’s bedroom in the early hours of June 28, 2016, represents, we say, a throwback to the days of male entitlement,” he added.
Paddy Jackson (26), from Belfast’s Oakleigh Park, and Stuart Olding (25), from Ardenlee Street in the city, deny raping the same woman after a night out in Belfast on June 28, 2016. Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.
Blane McIlroy (26), from Royal Lodge Road in Belfast, denies one count of exposure. Rory Harrison (25), from Manse Road in Belfast, has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice and withholding information. The trial is in its seventh week.
Addressing the panel of eight men and three women, Mr Hedworth said the case was not about the “me too” campaign or gender politics, but about the behaviour of some males.
He also referred to evidence the woman had consensually kissed Mr Jackson in an upstairs bedroom earlier in the night but told him she did not want to take things further. “Why would she say that the initial contact was consensual unless it was because she’s telling the truth?”
Silly
The barrister addressed defence suggestions the woman was a “silly girl who has willingly done something that she now regretted”. The complainant was reluctant to report the matter to police, the court heard. Instead, in the immediate aftermath she was more concerned about getting the morning-after pill. The jury was also reminded of the evidence from a taxi driver who took the complainant and Harrison home.
Mr Hedworth said: “Most significant of all, we submit, is that when the police got in touch he knew straight away what it was in relation to. Straight away.”
Mr Hedworth added: “A good school, a good rugby career... counts for nothing when used to disguise the realities of what overbearing, drunk young men will do when passions are raised and they have available to them a young woman whose own views about what is happening to her matter not. They knew she was not consenting. They simply were not interested.”
Referencing explicit WhatsApp messages in which the men described themselves as “legends”, Mr Hedworth told the jury: “The lads, legends? You decide.”
Defence barrister Brendan Kelly argued that morals, emotion and sympathy should not be considered in the rape trial.
Mr Kelly, representing Mr Jackson, was the first of four defence lawyers to make his closing submission. “This particular case is critically flawed,” he said, “...by inconsistencies and it is flawed by untruth; flawed, we will submit, to its core.”
Mr Kelly told the jury: “You need to be convinced. Convinced of a man’s guilt before you can convict. If you are less than sure, your duty is to acquit. It is as stark as that.”
Consent was at the heart of the case – a key matter for the jury when considering the “grave” charges, he said.
“A drunken consent is still consent,” said Mr Kelly.
Reference was also made to prosecution witness Dara Florence who believed she had walked in on a threesome and was invited to stay. Mr Kelly said: “She was invited to join in. She said ‘no’ and Jackson said ‘Are you sure?’ To join in a rape?”
Mr Kelly is expected to complete his closing submission today. Dismissing the jury for the day, Judge Patricia Smyth said: “We still have some way to go before hearing everything there is to be said.”
‘Why would she say that the initial contact was consensual unless it was because she’s telling the truth?’