A MONAGHAN man accused of raping a woman after giving her a lift home from a disco told Gardai they had sex, but as far as he was concerned nothing wrong had happened, a jury at the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
He agreed the woman did not speak during 1 1/2 hours of "courting" and then sexual intercourse. Asked whether he took it that this meant she was consenting or refusing, he replied: "I took it no way," Det Garda John Ogle told Mr Fergal Foley, prosecuting.
Later, when asked whether the woman, now 24, had pleaded: "Please don't do this", the defendant blurted out: "She said No", Det Garda Ogle said. Pressed on when she said this, the defendant said he was not saying any more and wanted to see his solicitor.
The 27 year old defendant has pleaded not guilty to raping the woman in his car, just yards from her Co Monaghan home early on January 23rd, 1995.
Det Garda John Costello said in an earlier interview the defendant stated that as far as he was concerned nothing wrong had happened. The defendant claimed the woman did not ask him to stop at any time.
He said that while he was having sex with her she did not cry, push him away or say anything, said the detective.
The defendant did agree, however, that she started to cry after the sex. She also refused his offer to leave her home. He thought she may have gone too far and was sorry, the defendant told gardai.
The trial continues today.