Man guilty of assault may be retried for rape

A Limerick man on trial for raping, torturing and imprisoning his partner has been acquitted of most of the charges but convicted of assault and false imprisonment.

The jury spent 6½ hours deliberating after an 11-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. It found him guilty of assaulting the woman outside her home and of dragging her into a waiting car. He was also convicted of beating her with a shovel until it broke.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts on charges of keeping her in a house for a week and of raping her several times, including with a bottle. The jury could not decide on two counts of rape, and the man may face a retrial on these allegations. He had already pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman outside the house.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan removed the man’s bail after hearing Garda evidence that he was now considered a flight risk as a result of the convictions.

She set a sentencing date of December 14th. The State will indicate whether it wants a retrial on the two rape counts on November 30th.

Dragged

The trial heard that the man dragged the mother of his child into a car when he suspected she was seeing another man. The woman said she was beaten and taken to a house where she was kept against her will. She said that, over the course of six days, she was raped “countless times”, including with a beer bottle.

The defence said that the sex was all consensual and the woman had many opportunities to leave the house.

The 35-year-old accused had pleaded not guilty to nine counts of rape, two of false imprisonment and four of assault causing harm between May 3rd and May 9th, 2012.