A woman who alleges she was raped by a man she met on the dating app Tinder has said she was terrified he was going to beat her up.
The Louth man (36) has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape at Kilmashogue Lane on September 11th, 2014. Both the accused and the complainant are entitled to anonymity throughout the trial.
The alleged victim told Alexander Owens SC, prosecuting, that after matching on Tinder the pair exchanged messages on WhatsApp, with the accused sending up to 20 messages to her within a 24-hour period.
The 31-year-old woman, who was a university student at the time, said that the accused “sounded cross” when she cancelled their first arranged meeting at short notice.
However, a subsequent date was arranged for September 11th and an arrangement was made to go for “a spin and a coffee”.
‘Take it easy’
She said he told her they would take the “long way back” to the city and he drove down a rural road. He stopped the car and said: “I wouldn’t abandon you in the mountains.”
She said that after a brief kissing session she asked him to “take it easy”. He responded: “What the f**k do you think we’re here for?”.
She said she did not want a “one-night stand” and she left the car after he told her to get out.
She got out and he drove off. She took out her phone to ring a friend but there was no signal.
The car disappeared from sight but the car returned a few minutes later and stopped by her. The man told her “it’s grand, get in” and she got in because she felt like she had no other choice.
He drove the car back to where they had been and he stopped and began kissing her.
He pulled a lever to drop her seat back and moved quickly to get on top of her. She said she was terrified and said no to him.
The alleged victim said that she asked him to stop but when he began to remove her clothes she stopped resisting him. She said he then raped her.
Afterwards he dropped her home and she said the accused sent her a WhatsApp with a smiley face, which she deleted. The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Butler and a jury.