The jury has found the Cork man not guilty of raping a girl when they were both teenagers

A jury of four women and eight men took five hours and 39 minutes to find not guilty in the case against a young Cork man of raping a girl when they were both 17 years old.

At the sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, Judge Siobhán Lankford thanked jurors for the attention they had given to the case, which began last week, and told them their participation was essential to the administration of justice.

The defendant burst into tears after the unanimous verdict was announced and was hugged by members of his family.

They heard evidence from the complainant – who was 17 at the time – that she had told her mother what had happened: “I said to my mother I think I was raped. Gardaí came up… I was confused. I felt violated. I had a mix of feelings. I was mad. I was just everywhere.”

At the time, she said she didn’t want to press charges of rape.

She added: “After a few days I decided to make an official report.”

Cross-examining the complainant, senior defense attorney Alice Fawcett said: “The defendant was interviewed by gardaí. He admitted that he had sexual intercourse with you, but said it was consensual. There is a lot of agreement between you about what happened that night. He says that you and him went for a smoke and you went behind the container and kissed. He said, ‘My hands were on her, her hands were on me’.”

The witness replied: “No. My hands were at my side.”

She also disputed the defendant’s account of the sexual intercourse, during which the defendant said, “I dropped my pants.” She took off her pants. After two or three minutes she told me it started to hurt. I asked if she wanted to stop, so I stopped. Then we kissed again. After a while we went back to our friends.”

The controversial offense at the heart of the case related to an incident in Cork on August 7, 2020, when both parties were 17 years old.

There is a legal ban on identifying the parties in the case.