Rape Crisis chief hits out at plight of sex crime victims
As trial collapses over video evidence, Noeline Blackwell says our legal system is ‘very far behind’ in treatment of complainants
IRELAND is ‘very far behind in recognising the vulnerability of sexual offence complainants’, according to the CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
Noeline Blackwell was speaking following the collapse of the trial this week of four men accused of gang-raping a woman in 2018. The men were acquitted after a request from the alleged rape victim to give her evidence by video link was refused.
Ms Blackwell said there several reasons why such a request could be refused, so she could not comment on the individual case without knowing more of the details.
But according to the Rape Crisis Centre chief, other countries that practise common law – such as the UK and Australia – ‘have gone much more towards having video evidence nearly as the norm’.
Complainants in sexual offence cases here do not a have a legal team. Instead, they are regarded as a witness because the case is taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
‘We have a real concern about a complainant who is in court with no representation,’ Ms Blackwell told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
‘This amateur – they’re not a court professional – in this case was facing four legal teams.
‘Each legal team would have a senior counsel, a junior counsel – that’s two barristers and a solicitor representing them. So you have 12
lawyers all engaged in this case. ‘And even if there’s only one defendant, you would have three lawyers working together to crossexamine the complainant, who has no legal training.
‘So the defendants have all got cases prepared by expert, experienced lawyers.
‘Even if the defence is behaving very well all along the way – and they don’t all, but many of them do – the job of the defence is to rattle the evidence of the complainant a bit, because all they have to show is that the complainant can’t prove it beyond all reasonable doubt.’
The young woman at the centre of the case that collapsed this week is undergoing psychiatric treatment for ongoing mental health difficulties. She had started to give her evidence in court from the witness stand. But after becoming upset during cross-examination, the woman asked for a break.
On Tuesday, prosecuting barrister Anne Rowland told the court the DPP was lodging an application to allow the young woman to continue to give her evidence by video link. According to Ms Rowland, the request was made following medical advice.
However, when the presiding judge denied the request, the DPP entered a nolle prosequi, which means the State decided not to continue with the case against each of the four men accused of committing sexual offences.
The four men, all in their mid-20s, were each accused of sexually assaulting the young woman at her Dublin home in December 2018, when she was 19 years old.
The young woman claimed she had invited one of the four accused men to her home on the night of the alleged incident because she was afraid to be alone.
The young woman told the court that her mother and sister had gone out and that when the first accused arrived with three friends she was surprised.
The first accused man, aged 25, pleaded not guilty to oral rape and sexual assault. The second accused, also aged 25, pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault. The third accused man, aged 23, pleaded not guilty to two charges of rape, oral rape and sexual assault. The fourth accused man, aged 24, pleaded not guilty to two charges of rape and sexual assault.
According to Ms Blackwell, taking a sexual offence case ‘could make the strongest, most capable, most articulate, most mature person vulnerable [in court], because these are things you don’t want to have to talk about again, and it’s a traumatic experience to do it.’
She said this week’s case sends out a ‘defeating’ message to victims of sex crimes, adding our legal system ‘has a long way to go’ before victims can be confident that they can secure a prosecution.
‘The guards investigated it, the DPP decided to take it on, they went to court, they got a trial date,’ said Ms Blackwell.
‘But in the courtroom, it’s a very, very, very lonely place for somebody who may never have been in a court before and has no idea how to manage a court case.’
She added: ‘Even guards will say that they sometimes get a very hard time from some defence counsels, and they are trained to do it.’
Ms Blackwell recommended that rape and sexual assault victims visit a section of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre website called ‘Finding Your Way after Sexual Violence’, at www.drcc.ie/fyw.
The phone number for the national Rape Crisis helpline is 1800 77 88 88.
‘Case sends out defeating message to victims’