Man claims sex in Cobh flat was not consensual

A man woke up after a night of drinking to discover the man who had invited him back to his flat for more drinks performing oral…

A man woke up after a night of drinking to discover the man who had invited him back to his flat for more drinks performing oral sex on him without consent, a court heard yesterday.

Mr John Murphy, of Ormond House, Harbour Row, Cobh, Co Cork, denied sexually assaulting the man at his flat on August 3rd 1997, claiming there was consensual sex between them, at a special sitting of Midleton District Court yesterday.

His alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said they met in a bar. They had a a lot to drink. Mr Murphy invited him back to his flat for more drinks.

There they drank until about 4 a.m. He said he decided to go home but Mr Murphy asked him if he wanted to stay and showed him into the bedroom.

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He took off his clothes, leaving on boxer shorts, and went to sleep. Later he woke to find Mr Murphy performing oral sex on him. However, Mr Murphy says his accuser took part in consensual sex, which ended when the accuser decided he had enough.

He said he was surprised and stunned when gardai called next day investigating the incident.

Judge Gerard Haughton said he had a certain degree of sympathy for Mr Murphy, who apologised openly in court to his victim. He believed what happened did so because of consumption of too much drink.

He did not believe Mr Murphy was a danger, nor was he likely to reoffend. He adjourned the case to January for a probation report. He would consider dismissing the case under the Probation Act if that was favourable.