Rape accused ‘tried to sell caravan and f lee country’, court is told

A MAN accused of raping a woman who lay partially clothed and unconscious for seven and-a-half hours in the grounds of a castle tried to sell his caravan to raise funds and flee the jurisdiction, gardaí told a court yesterday.

The blood of the woman was found on the jacket of her alleged attacker – who can’t be named for legal reasons – the court heard.

The alleged attacker – who had a bench warrant out for his arrest in relation to a separate offence when he was arrested on Friday – admitted hitting

The woman’s family cried throughout

the woman, adding that although he ‘must have had sex with her’, he couldn’t recall it.

The hearing at Carlow District Court was told that the victim cried after being struck and could be seen on CCTV being dragged by a man onto the grounds of Pollerton Castle in Carlow town.

The woman’s family, including her daughter, sat on one side of the court. Their cries were audible throughout.

The 33-year-old accused man kept his head bowed and sobbed. His family sat on the other side of the courtroom to the victim’s family and they too were crying throughout.

The accused is a Traveller, with addresses in Carlow, Wexford and Bristol.

He made no reply when charged with a section three assault and a section two rape on June 25, 2017 at Pollerton Castle, Carlow.

Garda Joe O’Keeffe told the court that last Sunday at 4.23am the accused randomly attacked a female whom he did not know.

The court heard that the injured woman was seriously assaulted and raped and lay concealed in an area of ground on Pollerton Castle for sevenand-a-half hours.

At approximately 1pm, a witness saw a partially clothed female on the grounds of the castle. She appeared unconscious and he immediately contacted gardaí.

The garda told the court the woman had significant injuries to her face and neck and was removed to St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny, where she remains in a serious condition.

Gardaí said CCTV footage from Pollerton Castle depicted a man dragging a female into the castle grounds and that there had also been an altercation outside the castle grounds.

The gardaí trawled through CCTV footage of the general Carlow town area and saw the suspect, who was wearing very distinctive clothing, in the vicinity of the castle around the time of the assault.

When they arrested him and searched his home, they found a jacket that the person was wearing in the CCTV footage and that jacket had blood on it.

A DNA profile found that it was the blood of the injured woman and gardaí forensically linked samples taken from her to the accused.

The court heard that during questioning the accused admitted hitting the woman outside Pollerton Castle, but when asked about the rape he replied: ‘I must have had sex with her, but I don’t remember.’

The defence solicitor, Brendan O’Flaherty, said his client was seeking bail, but the gardaí strenuously objected.

Investigating gardaí said the man had tried to raise funds by selling a caravan after last Sunday’s attack.

They believe that he was attempting to raise the money in a bid to abscond.

Bail was refused and the man was remanded to Cloverhill Prison to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday.

‘I must have had sex, but I don’t remember’