This article is from page 14 of the 2010-01-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A CLARE woman yesterday told a court that she had a “volatile” rela- tionship with the man accused of raping her at gunpoint.
She revealed she “stopped count- NOTA DACs OOOO MB DO CommO OCoummO TUN] left her house during the first year of their relationship because “it was getting ridiculous”.
A 44-year-old man has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to three counts of rape, two counts of anal rape, two counts of oral rape and one count each of false imprison-
ment, threatening to kill by shooting, threatening to disfigure with a knife, ageravated burglary and possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life. He pleaded guilty in December 2008 to assaulting the woman but CLSeDCe Me OUIABU NISMO MMU BINOME NO CoMEcAIDO yA UE| the offences are alleged to have oc- curred at her Clare home on Septem- ber 9, 2007.
Under cross-examination yester- day, the woman agreed that there were many “fallings out” between her and her ex-partner which were generally followed by their love life resuming.
She denied she was drunk during their first argument around Christ- mas 2004 shortly after he had moved in with her and she had told him she “felt” pregnant with their child.
She denied she hit the man with a brush on that occasion but admitted throwing one at him around the time of the alleged rape when he turned up at her house without her consent.
It was put to the woman that gardai intervened during another “furious argument” with the accused about selling property on eBay around eight months after the birth of their oF
The woman agreed the accused phoned gardai after she had kicked some of the property arranged on the living room floor, but explained she did no damage and smashed her own vase against the kitchen wall in reac- tion to the Garda summons.
She said that she and the accused had been in financial trouble at the time and that she was “extremely an- noyed” with him selling the property since he had already spent the sales money on a motorbike and used car.
She said a neighbour dropped her baby back to the house after she locked her ex-partner outside and
when gardai arrived he “gave them the impression” she’d locked both fa- ther and child out.
She agreed that gardai let her choose between letting the child stay with a social worker or giving the baby to her partner for the night.
She agreed she had been drinking earlier that day but denied she was drunk. She said it was Garda duty to call a social worker when responding to domestic incidents where there al- cohol is involved.
The trial continues before Mr Jus- tice Paul Carney and a jury of seven women and four men.