Doctor's Evidence Given At Rape Trial

Medical evidence has been heard in court by a doctor who examined an elderly woman after an alleged rape.

The jury at the Central Criminal Courts case against a Monaghan man accused of raping the 86-year-old pensioner in her home have been hearing details of her injuries after the incident.

The 35-year-old accused man has pleaded not guilty to raping the woman on June 16, 2008 and to burglary of her home with intent to steal on the same occasion.

Dr James Maloney of the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital told prosecuting counsel, Mr Tom O'Connell SC (with Mr Paul Carroll BL), that he examined the complainant on the evening following the alleged attack and she outlined a history of the incident to him.

He said she told him that she had answered the door to a stranger at midnight. She said the man pushed her first to a small bedroom and then brought her to her own larger bedroom.

She said he told her to take off her clothes, she complied and he took his own clothes off.

She told Dr Maloney that the man pushed her onto the bed onto her back and had sex with her. She said she cried out but the man put his hand over her mouth and told her to shut up.

She said that before the man left he asked for money and she gave him a small amount, adding he then drove off in a white van.

The doctor said he found the physical examination to be consistent with the history outlined by the complainant. He said he also took samples from her mouth, hair and genital area.

The trial continues Mr Justice George Birmingham and a jury of four women and eight men.

(BMcC/JM)