“I told the truth” – alleged rape victim from Carlisle in court

In his videotaped account of the alleged rape 18 years ago, the man said he was a “skinny” 20-year-old at the time.

Barrie O’Keefe, now 48, denies the allegations. He has also pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting and engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old Carlisle student in the same year, 2006.

At Carlise Crown Court, a jury was told that the defendant was convicted of raping another 15-year-old boy in 2006.

On the second day of O’Keefe’s trial at the city’s Crown Court, the jury was shown a video recording of a police interview with the man who lived in the same accommodation as the defendant at the time of the alleged rape.

The man remembered that he had gone to a friend’s house with the defendant, who was about 30 years old at the time, to watch a football match between England and Portugal on television.

The man said he drank three cans before reaching the house, where the men were “drinking, smoking and having fun.” Afterward, he and O’Keefe returned to the apartment where they both had rooms.

“I had too much to drink and went to bed in my room,” the man told police. He went to bed at 9 p.m. From then on, he couldn’t remember anything until O’Keefe woke him up.

He asked him what he was doing and O’Keefe told him not to worry before raping him, he said. The man said, “I was very drunk; I drank too much.”

Looking back, the man believed that O’Keefe had previously “plumbed” him with alcohol and drugs by giving him another joint every time he wasn’t smoking one, in an attempt to put him in a state where he could no longer think clearly.

“It was part of his daily schedule,” he said. “It was only afterwards that I realized that was happening.”

During the rape, the man said, he froze.

He said he was relieved to later learn that O’Keefe had been arrested “for doing the same thing to someone else,” referring to the case in which the defendant was convicted of raping a student.

The man then told the officer that his life had gone into a “downward spiral” after the incident. He said: “I was in a management position and making good money.

“Then this happened.

“It just ruined my life. I couldn’t handle it. I was angry and drinking too much. I wasn’t able to make rational decisions or deal with things. It got to the point where it ruined my life.”

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Brendan Burke, who said the defendant had no interest in football, the witness said: “I don’t think he was there for the football.”

“I think he was there for other reasons.”

In a later statement, he clarified this, saying: “I believe he was there to supply me with drugs and alcohol.”

Mr Burke said: “That didn’t happen. You made it up because you, no doubt like many others, hate Barry O’Keefe.” The man replied: “That’s a lie.”

When asked why he did not leave his home after the alleged rape, the man said it was his first “permanent accommodation” since he was 16 years old.

Prosecutor Peter Wilson turned to the man and said: “You said you were raped by Mr. O’Keefe. Is that true?” The man replied: “Yes.”

The prosecutor then read out a number of statements, including that of the mother of the second alleged victim, who was 15 years old at the time of the events described.

The teenager had talked about “killing himself” and said Barrie “touched” him. A woman who knew the teenager also reported that he told her “Barrie” touched him in the “wrong places.”

The jury heard that O’Keefe, formerly of Denton Holme, Carlisle, had previously been convicted at a trial of the rape of another 15-year-old boy during a night-time fishing trip. The defendant pleaded not guilty and continues to deny that offence.

The process continues.