Woman denies making up allegation of rape against her garda husband

Declan Brennan

A woman has denied a suggestion that she made up an allegation of rape against her garda husband in order to get him out of the family home.

The 48-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to two counts of raping the woman on dates in 2009 and 2021.

He has also pleaded not guilty to three counts of child cruelty of two of his daughters on a number of occasions on unknown dates between 2007 and 2024.

He also denies a charge of assault causing harm to one of his daughters on an unknown date in late 2021 to early 2022, after she had turned 18.

All parties in the case have a statutory right to anonymity.

When the trial opened on Tuesday, Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, told the jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Dublin that it was alleged that the accused was “a violent and domineering father and husband” who subjected two of his daughters to “unreasonable chastisement” for most of their childhood.

All the alleged offending took place at two locations in the north west of the country where the family was living at the relevant times.

In her direct evidence on Tuesday afternoon, the wife of the accused described two incidents, one in 2009 and another in 2021, when she said her husband raped her.

She said she had told him she didn’t want sex, but he said he didn’t care and went ahead with it.

She said that afterwards, she was shocked and felt numb and decided that was the end of the marriage. She told the jury that she slept on the coach for the next few years, and the accused slept in the bedroom.

She said that the first time she spoke to gardai about it was after it was disclosed during an interview with Tusla social workers.

Under cross-examination, she told James McGowan SC, defending, that she was still living in the family home and that the break-up of the marriage was not finalised and was “still ongoing”.

She said that Tulsa became involved because one of her daughters asked to go to therapy and began sessions with the mental health charity Jigsaw, which then referred the case to Tusla.

This girl is the younger alleged victim of child cruelty.

The witness told McGowan that she was not sure if the Tusla investigation had ended or not and said she hadn’t heard from them in a while.

She agreed that she went to court to seek a barring order against the accused, but she didn’t get one. She agreed that she got a protection order instead.

She agreed that judicial separation proceedings began in 2023 and that she put in a defence and counterclaim to that.

She agreed that in her defence, she stated that the accused had been physically abusive towards a third child and hit her. She agreed that her defence doesn’t say the accused was abusive towards her or that he raped her or that there was any domestic violence in the house.

She agreed it also didn’t say anything about the complaints from the two child complainants.

She said the accused moved out of the family home in November 2024. She agreed that the marriage was over in 2021, and they were in separate rooms from then.

Asked if she would have taken the accused back between 2021 and 2024, she said: “Absolutely not”.

She agreed that in April 2024 she received a text notification from an insurance company with another woman’s name. She said she didn’t know at this stage for sure if her husband had begun a new relationship, but said “he had every right, we weren’t in a relationship”.

She said she met the woman for the first time after the accused sent her to collect the children instead of coming himself.

Asked if when she found out he was in a new relationship, it changed her view of matters, she said “No, we were in divorce proceedings”.

“You didn’t go in to your solicitor shortly afterwards and tell her to press the button on the family law proceedings?” Mr McGowan asked.

She denied this. He put it to the complainant that “in order to get him out of the house, you would have to make the criminal complaint that you made,” and she denied this suggestion.

He put it to her that she had tried to get him out of the house with a barring order, but was only able to secure a protection order from the courts.

“You were all still in the house. You were going to do whatever it took to get him out of the house,” counsel said.

The woman replied, “No, I just wanted protection from the courts”.

The trial continues before the jury of seven men and five women and Justice Sean Gillane. It is expected to run for two weeks.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.