I’ve known Patrick since he was 8 or 9 and he’d be the last person in the world to rape someone... Childhood pal Complainant had tells of ‘disbelief’ ‘followed Jackson’
RUGBY STARS TRIAL: HARRISON
for the journey to the after-party in Jackson’s house – and he told the court he could not remember getting there.
He said at the house were four women, Dara Florence, Claire Matthews, Emily Docherty and the complainant, none of whom he knew before the evening.
Harrison told the court the complainant had been “staring” at Jackson during the after-party and confirmed it was not wholly unusual.
He added: “She was looking at Paddy. It’s something I would notice on a night out, people would look at him because he is famous. I thought she was staring a bit longer considering we were at the house and she knew he was there.” The court also heard Harrison saw the woman “follow” Jackson upstairs. He said: “After I seen her stare at him, I thought that’s where she was going, that’s maybe why she was following him.” Harrison told the court shortly before 4.30am on June 28, Miss Florence Gavan Duffy QC and Miss Matthews ordered a taxi. He said: “Dara and Claire said they wanted to leave and were going home.
“I joked they could stay if they wanted. I gave them the details of the house.” Assuming Jackson and the complainant were together, and Olding and Miss Docherty were together, and not being able to place Mcilroy, Harrison decided to leave, the court heard.
He added: “I went up to say goodbye to Patrick and saw [the complainant] standing on the top of the stairs. I was going to say goodbye. It was after the girls decided they were going.”
Asked was there anything about the complainant’s demeanour that caught his attention, Harrison replied: “Nothing drew my attention to her. I walked past her and put my head around the corner.”
Asked about her state of dress, he said: “I don’t remember. She wasn’t unclothed or I would have noticed.
“I could see Paddy lying on the far side of the bed but the covers weren’t covering him.” He added he could see
I thought maybe she had been rejected by Paddy, given she had been staring at him RORY HARRISON BELFAST CROWN COURT YESTERDAY