THE State would be solely responsible if the victim was put through the trauma of giving evidence of an alleged rape, the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
Mr Gregory Murphy SC, defending, said the 19 year old Donegal victim should not be "dragged through the courts" after his client had already admitted attempting to rape her and to aggravated sexual assault.
Mr Murphy said he had advised his client to deny actual rape, as the medical evidence was not consistent with penetration having taken place. The offences he pleaded guilty to carried the same maximum sentence as rape life imprisonment.
If the woman was forced to go through with a trial the responsibility would be with the authorities and not the defendant, counsel added.
The 37 year old defendant pleaded guilty to attempted rape and aggravated sexual assault of the woman in Donegal on September 18th, 1994. He denied raping her.
Ms Miriam Reynolds, prosecuting, said she had no instructions from the DPP to drop the rape charge and asked the court to fix a trial date for that charge alone. Mr Justice Lavan remanded the defendant in continuing custody to March 21st.