Alleged rape victim speaks from behind the curtain

In Courtroom 12, at Laganside Courts in Belfast, the young woman who accuses Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding of raping her sits behind a long, royal-blue curtain, falling from ceiling to floor. The effect is theatrical, but the purpose is practical: the curtain separates her from the sportsmen in the glass-walled dock, and the crammed public gallery behind them.

Mr Jackson and Mr Olding, together with Blane McIlroy, who is charged with exposure, and Rory Harrison, charged with perverting the course of justice and withholding information, sit in a row in the dock. They face towards the cluster of wigged heads in the well of the court and the judge who sits above them, on a raised platform. The jury is seated to the left. The defendants can watch the woman give evidence via a TV monitor, rigged up to their right, but the four men often appear to stare straight ahead, motionless. They deny all the charges.

The 21-year-old woman, who cannot be named, has been undergoing cross-examination by defence barristers since last week. Today was the turn of Gavan Duffy QC, representing Mr Harrison, who was in the house where the rapes are alleged to have occurred in June 2016.

Frowning slightly, the alleged victim seemed to listen intently as Mr Duffy described how Mr Harrison took her home in a taxi at around 5am and accompanied her to the front door. Speaking in a low, clear, measured voice, she said she had “absolutely no complaint with him. He took me home and I’m grateful for that.” Was she hysterical in the taxi, was she screaming? “I was extremely unsettled. I had just been raped,” she answered. Questioned further, she said: “I can confirm I was extremely upset,” enunciating the words slowly and with emphasis.

Later on that same day, the complainant received a text message from Mr Harrison, asking if she was feeling better. She sent a text back: “To be honest, no. I know you must be mates with those guys but I don’t like them. And what happened was not consensual, which is why I was so upset. Again, thank you for taking me home. That was really appreciated.” Mr Harrison responded with one word: “Jesus.” Then he texted: “I am not sure what to say.”

The question of whether or not Mr Harrison could have seen blood on the alleged victim’s white trousers when he was taking her home also came under scrutiny in court. She said that she had discovered blood on the inside lining of the trousers and she had assumed that it had soaked through to the outside. Under cross-examination, she agreed that it was fair that Mr Harrison did not know about the blood.

As this week’s proceedings drew to a close, the men in the dock began to move. Mr Olding adjusted the fringe of his hair and Mr Jackson stretched his arms, clasping his left shoulder with his right hand. Animated conversation broke out in the public gallery. The alleged victim was taken away, and the TV monitor screen went blank. On Monday, she will be back in the witness box again, speaking once more from behind the long blue curtain.