Man accused of rape claims woman initiated contact

A taxi driver accused of raping two young women in separate incidents told gardaí that the first woman had initiated the physical contact between them and all sexual interaction was with her full consent.

The man, who is 50 and from Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to raping the women after they had been socialising in the city centre in June and August 2022.

The first woman, who is now 21, has alleged that she was raped by the accused in the back of his taxi in the early hours of 26 June 2022.

She had been out with work colleagues but became separated from them. She described herself as “very drunk” after drinking more alcohol than she would be used to.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of the young woman walking along a footpath towards the city centre at around 4.45am, in the opposite direction to her home.

A taxi can be seen on the footage doing a u-turn before pulling in beside her. At one point, the woman can be seen carrying a black bin bag which she puts down before getting in the car. The vehicle is then seen at various locations in the area.

Detective Garda Kayleigh McCarthy, from the garda protective services unit, told the court the taxi was leased to the accused man and was fitted with a GPS tracker.

The court heard the tracker showed the vehicle had pulled into a cul-de-sac at around 5am and the ignition was switched off for 10-11 minutes.

The jury was told by a witness from the taxi company the man worked for that all drivers were aware before they signed a contract that they would be GPS tracked.

Det Gda McCarthy gave evidence that she spoke to the first young woman at her home later that evening.

She said she took a number of items from her and brought her to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at the Rotunda Hospital.

The court heard that male DNA found on the button and zip of the woman’s jeans matched the driver and his DNA was also found on another sample taken from her.

Det Gda McCarthy said the man was arrested on 1 September 2022 and the CCTV footage and DNA evidence were put to him. The man then spoke to his solicitor and a written statement was provided to gardaí.

In the statement, the man said he completely denied the rape allegation.

He said he had been flagged down by other people who then did not want a taxi. He said he saw the girl who looked lost. When he asked her if she wanted a taxi she said yes, and said she wanted to find her handbag.

The man said she did not ask him to drive her to the address where she lived and she did not fall asleep at any point.

She had “drink on her”, he said, but she was well able to have a conversation and was giddy and laughing.

The man told gardaí that he pulled into a housing estate to ask her where she was going. He claimed the young woman told him he was cute.

“She was smiling at me and I felt like she was coming on to me,” he said. He claimed she leant over and kissed him on the lips.

The man said he asked “how could you fancy me?” He said they then began to kiss “passionately”. He said she got into the back seat of the car herself and it was “pure nonsense” to suggest that she was tossed into the back like a rag doll, as the woman had said. The man said “that didn’t happen”.

He described how they then went on to have sex. The man said he “completely and categorically” denied the allegation of rape and he said “all sexual interaction was with her full consent”.

Earlier, a work colleague of the young woman said the woman was “drunk” when they were in a pub together and she kept taking drinks away from her because of how drunk she was.

The witness said she and another colleague tried to get a taxi for the woman but could not get one to stop and also tried to get her on a bus. However, she kept trying to run away from them and they lost her on a street near Trinity College.

The jury has heard the Dublin Pride festival was on and the city was very busy. The witness said they could not find the woman and could not contact her.

The trial will continue on Monday.