Man accused of rape claims woman initiated contact

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

The 50-year-old Dublin man has pleaded not guilty to raping the women after they spent time together in the city centre in June and August 2022.

The first woman, now 21 years old, claims she was raped by the accused in the back seat of his taxi in the early hours of June 26, 2022.

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

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

In the footage, a taxi can be seen turning around and pulling up alongside her. At one point, the woman can be seen carrying a black garbage bag, which she puts down before getting into the car. The vehicle can then be seen at various locations in the area.

Detective Garda Kayleigh McCarthy, of the Garda Protection Unit, told the court the taxi had been rented to the defendant and was fitted with a GPS tracker.

The court heard that the tracking device showed the vehicle had driven into a dead end street at around 5am and the ignition was off for 10 to 11 minutes.

A witness from the taxi company the man worked for told the jury that all drivers were aware that they were being tracked via GPS before signing their contracts.

Det Gda McCarthy testified that she spoke to the first young woman in her home later that evening.

She said she took numerous items from her and took her to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at Rotunda Hospital.

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

Det Gda McCarthy said the man was arrested on September 1, 2022 and shown the CCTV footage and DNA evidence. The man then spoke to his lawyer and provided a written statement to police.

In his statement, the man said he strongly denies the rape allegations.

He said he was flagged down by other people who then didn’t 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 purse.

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

She had “had a little to drink,” he said, but was perfectly capable of holding a conversation and was exuberant and laughing.

The man told police he drove to a housing development to ask her where she was going. He claimed the young woman told him he was cute.

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

The man said he asked: “How could you like me?” He said they then began kissing “passionately.” He said she got into the back seat of the car herself and it was “pure nonsense” to claim she was thrown into the back seat like a rag doll, as the woman had said. The man said: “That didn’t happen.”

He described how they then had sex. The man said he “completely and categorically” denied the allegation of rape and said “all sexual interactions were with her full consent.”

Previously, a work colleague had explained to the young woman that the woman had been “drunk” during a joint visit to a bar and that she had constantly taken drinks away from her because of her high alcohol content.

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

The jury heard that the Dublin Pride Festival was taking place and the city was busy. The witness said they were unable to locate the woman or make contact with her.

The trial will continue on Monday.