A 23-year-old man told a jury yesterday that he was not responsible for a rape in a Co Tipperary town which was committed a week before his marriage.
Earlier, a forensic scientist told the Central Criminal Court that the results of fibre analysis "strongly supported" the contention that the defendant's clothes had been in contact with the rape victim's clothing.
The man has pleaded not guilty to charges of raping the 25-yearold woman, assaulting her and attempting to choke her with intent to enable him to rape her after midnight on September 4th-5th, 1994.
He told his counsel, Ms Maureen Clark SC (with Mr Patrick Treacy), that gardai, who came to his house at 6.40 a.m., did not mention they were investigating a rape. They spoke about "an assault" and he believed they were referring to a fight.
He allowed them to take his clothes for forensic examination. They said the clothes were needed to "eliminate" him from their investigation and he was told he would have the clothes back in a few days, he alleged.
The defendant said he told gardai that he had been in a pub that evening and had arrived home shortly after midnight. On the way home he would have walked near the scene of the rape but he did not hear or see anything suspicious.
He claimed that muddy marks on the knees of his jeans had been caused when he lost his footing getting over railings to vomit.
Cross-examined by Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC (with Mr Des Zaidan), the defendant agreed the woman had identified him as her attacker. "When I was on the identification parade I thought `surely this will solve everything'. She picked me out but I know nothing about the rape."
The accused told Mr Vaughan Buckley that he could not say how soil got into the grooves of the ribbed elbow pads of his leather jacket.
Asked if it was "just a coincidence" that he had fallen on the night of the rape, the defendant replied that he had often fallen over, even at times when he was not returning from a pub.
Mr Vaughan Buckley suggested soil could been embedded in the elbow pads and on his boots as he pressed them against the ground during the act of rape. The defendant said he did not rape the woman.
He could not explain how fibres found on his clothes matched fibres from the alleged victim's top and leggings. However, he maintained that he had not been in contact with her.
A forensic scientist told the jury earlier that she found 14 green fibres on the defendant's clothing which matched the woman's sweater. Five purple cotton fibres were found which matched fibres from her long-sleeved top.
She also found other purple polyester, purple cotton and turquoise fibres which matched the woman's striped leggings. These findings strongly supported the contention of contact between the two sets of clothes.
Another scientist said forensic tests on soil found on the defendant's leather jacket and boots also gave "slight support" to the allegation he had been present at the rape scene.
His finding of "slight support" was only one step above a finding of "no support". He said the range of assessment used by the Forensic Science Laboratory went from "no support" all the way up to "conclusive", which was a rare finding.
The trial before Mrs Justice McGuinness continues today.