Jackson’s pal denies he was ‘delegated to mind woman’
‘You put friends first’, court hears
A FRIEND of Paddy Jackson has denied he was ‘delegated’ to look after a woman who claims she was raped by the rugby star.
Rory Harrison was facing cross examination from the prosecution at Belfast Crown Court yesterday before the defence concluded its case.
Toby Hedworth QC told the court: ‘It was noted how much of a state she was in and you, either of your own volition, or it was delegated by one of your friends to get her home.’
Mr Harrison answered ‘No, that’s not right.’
The rape is alleged to have happened during a party at Mr Jackson’s home after a night out at Ollies club in Belfast on June 28, 2016.
Mr Harrison denied he had put ‘misplaced’ loyalty above the interests of a young woman who had been ‘traumatised by what had been done to her’ upstairs at Mr Jackson’s house.
‘Regrettably, however good an upbringing you have had or whatever good family you undoubtedly come from, sadly you have put loyalty to your friends first,’ Mr Hedworth suggested.
Mr Harrison replied: ‘I disagree with you.’
The court previously heard he had been living and working in Dublin in June 2016.
It was his 24th birthday when police arrived at his home to take a witness statement on June 30.
He denied delivering a ‘party line’ when making his statement and in subsequent interviews under caution, in October of the same year.
The court heard he had memory gaps, possibly due to the level of intoxication.
He could not recall much about the woman’s physical appearance other than her hair colour but could remember her ‘staring’ at Mr Jackson and being ‘fixated’ on him. He could also remember her following Mr Jackson upstairs, the court heard.
Mr Harriston rejected prosecution suggestions that his account was designed to ‘row his friend Paddy Jackson’ out of trouble.
He did not disclose that the woman had sent a message, hours after the alleged attack, in which she wrote: ‘I know you must be mates with those guys but I didn’t like them and what happened was not consensual which is why I was so upset.’
Mr Harrison’s response to the message was, ‘Jesus, I don’t know what to say,’ the court heard.
Having first thought she may have been upset at being rejected by the rugby star, he told the court his view changed to thinking she did something she regretted.
‘My initial reaction was shock but, as I have said before, based on the character of Patrick, I did not think it was true,’ he said.
He attempted to explain a message in which he wrote: ‘Walked upstairs and there were more flutes than Twelfth of July.’ He said: ‘It was a joke in relation to Patrick being upstairs with a girl and Stuart being upstairs with a girl. That there had been possible sexual activity between them.’ Mr Hedworth said: ‘What it does describe is a scene where a girl is running out of a bedroom in a state of distress when a number of men are running about undressed. That would not be a joke. That would be accurate.
‘If Patrick Jackson is standing around naked, if Blane McIlroy is standing about naked, if Stuart Olding has just run off to the bathroom to wipe himself, then there are more flutes than Twelfth of July aren’t there?’
Mr Harrison answered him: ‘There would be in that case, yes.’
Earlier, he rejected prosecution claims he had been engaged in ‘verbal fencing’ with police and provided a ‘sanitised version’ of events to protect his friends.
He also denied ‘over-egging the pudding’ in his account.
The court was told Mr Harrison had no memory of a telephone conversation with Blane McIlroy minutes after he left the house.
A taxi driver Stephen Fisher has told the jury he thought Mr Harrison had been speaking in code when he said: ‘She’s not good.’
When asked for his reaction to that evidence, Mr Harrison replied: ‘I was surprised because I don’t know any code. None of the words I said sounded like code to me.’
He also had ‘no memory’ of the woman crying into him.
Meanwhile, in his re-examination Gavan Duffy QC asked if he had ‘lied at any stage’. Mr Harrison answered: ‘No, I did not.’
Later yesterday the defence concluded its case at Belfast Crown Court. The jury of eight men and three women have heard all the evidence relating to the high-profile case, which is in its seventh week.
Judge Patricia Smyth said the next phase of the trial would hear prosecution and defence legal teams, who would have an opportunity address the court on the evidence.
Paddy Jackson, 26, of Belfast’s Oakleigh Park, and Stuart Olding, 25, from Ardenlee Street in the city deny raping the woman after a night out in Belfast in 2016.
Mr Jackson denies a further charge of sexual assault.
Two others are also facing charges connected to the alleged sex attack.
Blane McIlroy, 26, of Royal Lodge Road in Belfast, has pleaded not guilty to exposure, while Mr Harrison, 25, from Belfast’s Manse Road, denies perverting the course of justice and withholding information. Mr Harrison was the last of the four defendants to give evidence in his own defence.
‘Jesus, I don’t know what to say’