A Donegal teenager has been acquitted of raping a schoolmate after they met at a takeaway in the early hours of March 18, 2016.
The 19-year-old youth had denied one count of rape and another of oral rape of a girl behind a building in a town in Co Donegal following St Patrick’s night celebrations.
Both parties were aged 16 at the time.
On the 12th day of the trial, the jury at the Central Criminal Court returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty after just under two hours’ deliberation.
When Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy told the youth he was free to go, he left the dock and rushed to hug his parents who had been in court for the duration of the trial.
The 18-year-old complainant left the courtroom in tears, accompanied by family members.
During the trial, the court heard that both the complainant and defendant had been out drinking separately with friends before they met in a takeaway.
The boy suggested that they go for a walk and they went behind a building, where they started kissing and the girl said the alleged offences then occurred.
For full story see https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/teenager-acquitted-of-raping-schoolmate-after-they-met-in-takeaway-on-night-out-37136187.html