The ulster rugby trial

[macdanger2]

This verdict and the way the trial was covered will certainly make any other girl think twice before she reports a rape. That's a very sad situation.

If the girl lied, and this was just something she made up to cover her embarrassment, then she has done a very grave disservice to other women. If that's the case, then I'm delighted the lads got off.

If she was telling the truth, and it just couldn't be proven, then I feel terribly sorry for her.

Agreed. Anonymity would have been better for all concerned

[yellowcard]

Can the defendants recover the tens of thousands of pounds racked up in legal fees during the trial now that they have been proven not guilty? Apparentlt Olding had to apply for legal aid during the course of the trial for financial reasons.

[Tony Baloney]

Can the defendants recover the tens of thousands of pounds racked up in legal fees during the trial now that they have been proven not guilty? Apparentlt Olding had to apply for legal aid during the course of the trial for financial reasons.

Tens?! It'll be hundreds.

[DuffleKing]

Loss of earnings?

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Jackson missed being part of the Irish squad this year that went on to win a grand slam because of this.

[yellowcard]

Can the defendants recover the tens of thousands of pounds racked up in legal fees during the trial now that they have been proven not guilty? Apparentlt Olding had to apply for legal aid during the course of the trial for financial reasons.

Tens?! It'll be hundreds.

Probably.

[sid waddell]

Gary Walsh of Laois will have landed himself in some bother with his tweet today hopefully

Mr. Walsh deserves to be charged with bringing the GAA into disrepute and be landed with a nice little ban for his trouble.

Even three months would comfortably cover the entirety of Laois's championship campaign.

[GalwayBayBoy]

My view of events was that she blew Jackson and olding, gets caught in the act by Florence and then Mc ilroy comes in trying to get in on the act after olding leaves. The woman get upset by the manner in which the men were passing her around, leaves in tears and being upset she texts her friends to say she was raped. Once she says that they get into hysterics and she can't back down by saying "ah it wasn't really rape I just got treated like shite".

I've always thought Mc Ilroy was guilty of exposure just because that to me seems a likely scenario. She'd no reason to make up an extravagant lie involving Mc ilroy, so in some way I believe there was some interaction between them that night that upset her. Whilst all accounts are inconsistent wth each other the truth probably lies in the middle of them all.

I feel sorry for Jackson and Harrison, seem decent enough. Mc ilroy and olding probably had a sexual assault case coming some day or other..

Felt for a while that something close to the above is what happened. It was consensual with Jackson and Olding. McIlroy (who seems a shady character) tried to get himself involved. Her friend walked in on her in flagrante with Jackson and Olding in a threesome but had no reason to feel it wasn't consensual. The girl probably felt a bit of shame for getting caught in the act like that and demeaned by the likes of McIlroy waving his willy at her. Everyone had a lot of alcohol on board and hey presto.

[gallsman]

Dara Florence wasn't and isn't her friend.

[omagh_gael]

What sort of bollix is Gary Walsh? For those not on Twitter he said...

"Where's your ones name from the Paddy Jackson trail? It's her that should be destroyed in the papers now, all yee feminists come at me, I'll throw the kitchen sink at ya."

[themac_23]

Gary Walsh of Laois will have landed himself in some bother with his tweet today hopefully

Mr. Walsh deserves to be charged with bringing the GAA into disrepute and be landed with a nice little ban for his trouble.

Even three months would comfortably cover the entirety of Laois's championship campaign.

Can't see anything on his Twitter from today? Anyone able to DM me what he said?

[gallsman]

This verdict and the way the trial was covered will certainly make any other girl think twice before she reports a rape. That's a very sad situation.

If the girl lied, and this was just something she made up to cover her embarrassment, then she has done a very grave disservice to other women. If that's the case, then I'm delighted the lads got off.

If she was telling the truth, and it just couldn't be proven, then I feel terribly sorry for her.

I think your first sentence is a bit of a stretch. The complainant lied when she first went to the doctor (saying she was vaginally raped by two people). With no other compelling evidence of rape and the eye witness not seeing rape, in her opinion; that seemed to be the key facts. With the judge saying the lie/exaggeration to the doctor is enough to mean all the complainant's evidence should be disregarded (which surprised me, but the judge knows the law) then it would make you question how this ever got to court.

Did that happen??

Of course not. That already had to be clarified on this thread. People see what they want to see.

It's absolutely true!! FFS, why would you say otherwise Seanie?:

This directly from Rosanna Cooney's twitter:
~~~~~~~~~~
Judge:
Whether or not there are inconsistencies in the account the woman gave to the Doctor in the Rowan clinic and the account she gave to the police is a matter for you. If you decide there are inconsistencies you must decide why that must be so.

Trauma is a reason that can explain inconsistencies. If you are satisfied that trauma is the reason then the inconsistencies might not be that important to you.

However if you are under the impression that she lied in giving her evidence to the doctor in Rowan or made false allegation, you need to exercise caution as to how you approach her evidence and also whether you can rely on her evidence.

If you think she lied then I am directing you not to rely on her evidence against the complainants.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Without the complainant's evidence there was clearly no case against the defendants. Medical evidence was very much inconclusive.

So as I said before, the jury had to decide whether she lied or made a mistake (as a result of trauma) when making the initial false allegation against Olding. Therefore, the judge was effectively instructing the jury to acquit if they thought she lied to the doctor (given the lack of other evidence).

This is the third or fourth time you've been pulled on this. You're either being deliberately disingenuous (which would make you a p***k as you'd be trying to skew the facts of a rape trial) or you're stupid. I'm not sure which it is but you feel free to decide.

What the judge actually said was that if they felt she lied to the doctor, she was directing them not to rely on that evidence unless they believed there was other independent evidence to support it. Yesterday you went as far at posting the utterly stupid comment that the judge had said, in these circumstances, the lads should "walk free".

[screenexile]

Gary Walsh of Laois will have landed himself in some bother with his tweet today hopefully

Mr. Walsh deserves to be charged with bringing the GAA into disrepute and be landed with a nice little ban for his trouble.

Even three months would comfortably cover the entirety of Laois's championship campaign.

Can't see anything on his Twitter from today? Anyone able to DM me what he said?

He's been in bother before hasn't he?? Sounds like he's a bit light in the head!

[Milltown Row2]

Olding seems to have got straight back on the horse!!

[paddyjohn]

Said tweet now deleted. He was the one that got kicked off the panel last year for having a go at the management.