Man cleared of rape charge

A 27 year old Monaghan man has been cleared of raping a woman after giving her a lift home from a disco.

A 27 year old Monaghan man has been cleared of raping a woman after giving her a lift home from a disco.

The jury took less than an hour to return the not guilty verdict following a four day trial before Mr Justice Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

He had denied raping the now 24 year old woman in the early hours of January 23rd, 1995. He told the court they had "courted" for over an hour but he denied the woman's claims that she had objected when he had sexual intercourse with her.