andrew@limerickpost.ie
THE trial of a Limerick man charged with raping a woman several times during a six-day kidnap ordeal opened at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin this week.
The 35-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reason, is facing seven charges of falsely imprisonment, 34 charges of rape, two counts of sexually assaulting the woman and with five counts of assaulting her causing her harm.
The prosecution claims that the offences happened at locations in Limerick city on dates between May 3 and May 9, 2013 when the woman, in her early 20s, was held captive by three men – one of which is the accused.
The woman told Gardaà that she was pulled from a taxi and brought to a flat where she was raped multiple times, beaten and assaulted for almost a week and over the course of the May bank holiday weekend.
The trial before Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan is expected to last three weeks.
