A homeless man was convicted yesterday by a jury in the Central Criminal Court of raping an English woman in a Co Cork town last year.
James O'Driscoll (41), with a former address at Marsh Road in Skibbereen, was remanded in continuing custody by Mr Justice Carney to June 19th next for sentence.
The jury of seven men and five women took over four hours to find O'Driscoll guilty by 102 majority verdicts of raping and sexually assaulting the 30-year-old victim in a grassy area known as "the Rock" in Skibbereen around midday on August 18th, 1997.
O'Driscoll had pleaded not guilty and gave evidence on his own behalf during a three-day trial. He said the woman had enticed him to have sex and had claimed rape only after a passer-by saw them having intercourse.