21/07/2011 - 19:04:03
A 65-year-old woman has denied having consensual sex with her son on the night of Mothers' Day three years ago.
Her 44-year-old son has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman at her home between March 2 and 3, 2008.
During cross examination by defence counsel, Mr Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, the woman agreed that after her son called to her house that night they were talking and getting on well. She agreed there was music and the two of them were dancing.
She denied that she had “five or six” drinks and said she had three drinks with her meal earlier that day and a drink with her son at the house.
She disagreed that at some point they were holding each other “quite tight”.
Mr Ó Lideadha suggested to her they were dancing, holding each other and she was telling him that she loved him and he was like his father. The woman said she did not remember saying she loved him but she did remember saying he was like his father to look at.
When Mr Ó Lideadha suggested that she started kissing him on the lips, she replied: “That’s not true”.
She agreed that she did not remember the time between when she was sitting in her seat and when she ended up on the floor but said they had been dancing before she sat down.
Mr Ó Lideadha put it to her it was possible there was dancing after this and she told him she would usually remember because it was something she liked to do.
She agreed there was dancing at some point and she remembered sitting down on the seat. She agreed her next memory after that was her son having sex with her on the floor and she did not remember what happened in between the seat and the floor.
Mr Ó Lideadha put it to her she did not know if she was kissing her son and telling him that she loved him. She said she did not remember kissing him.
Mr Ó Lideadha suggested that while they were dancing, she was saying these things and her son was kissing her back and feeling her body. She said she did not think it happened and had no memory of it. She said she remembered dancing maybe a foot apart.
He suggested that when they were both on the floor and her son was on top of her she opened her legs. The woman said she didn’t open her legs and couldn’t remember how her legs opened.
She replied “That’s lies”, after Mr Ó Lideadha suggested that when her son put his penis inside her she continued kissing him.
Mr Ó Lideadha said she did not know that because her evidence was her son already had his penis inside her when her memory began again.
She denied that she never said “leave me alone” during the sexual activity. She replied “That’s not the truth” to the suggestion she was always taking part and had her hand on the back of his head.
She denied the only time she said “leave me alone” was after the sex when her son was trying to help her get up.
She told Mr Ó Lideadha that she was never told the medication she was taking should not be mixed with alcohol and said that was not on the leaflet.
Mr Ó Lideadha said it was possible that the combination of alcohol and medication may have caused confusion and interfered with her thinking process. She said it was possible but that she knew herself that she did not consent to sex with her son.
She denied that they were talking after the sex and in good humour or that she made it clear she was happy to lie on the floor. She said she did not want her son near her.
She told Mr Ó Lideadha she did not know what he was talking about when he told her that another son had noticed her being “unusually intimate” with the accused, such as touching his hand.
Mr Ó Lideadha asked her if there were occasions over the years where she might have fallen down after drinking and she said it might have happened once or twice but was not a regular occurrence.
She said she did not remember an incident where she told another son she should have been left to lie on the floor.
She agreed she had discipline problems with the accused while he was growing up.
Mr Ó Lideadha suggested that there was not much contact over the years between her and the accused and she said they would ring each other sometimes. She denied telling partners of the accused that he was not loved or wanted by his family.
She agreed she would give her children a smack with a brush or wooden spoon but denied there were frequent beatings.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Butler and a jury of seven men and five women.
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