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A woman who alleges she was raped by Ireland and Ulster rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding has rejected a suggestion that she "watered down" her knowledge of the sport and its players, a court in Belfast has heard.
On Friday, the 21-year-old student, who alleges she was raped at Mr Jackson’s home on June 28th, 2016 when she was 19 years-old, was cross-examined by Brendan Kelly QC, representing Mr Jackson, for a second day at Belfast Crown Court.
The court was shown a 35-minute video recording of the complainant’s second police interview in July 2016.
In the PSNI recording the complainant told an officer that when a woman at the party walked into the bedroom of the east Belfast home of Mr Jackson during the alleged incident she had turned away because she was “mortified”.
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She also said she turned away because she feared she could have been being photographed, as the other girls at the house had been taking pictures downstairs.
The young woman told police she did not recall what Mr Jackson was doing, whether he was having sex with her, when the partygoer was briefly in the room. She told police: “I was trying hard to pretend it was not happening. It’s like I wasn’t there.”
‘Face with his name’
The complainant told Mr Kelly she does not follow rugby and first registered Mr Jackson’s “face with his name” when she had handed him a drink at a Belfast bar in 2015 when she was working on a drinks promotion.
On her presence in the VIP area at Ollies nightclub in the hours before the alleged rape in June 2016 she told Mr Kelly it was nothing to do with rugby players being there.
“We didn’t go into that VIP area to meet Ulster rugby players, if that’s what you are insinuating,” she said.
Mr Kelly put it to the complainant that when she had raised her concerns about reporting the matter to police, a friend of hers had said in text messages that she should “just pretend you don’t know them from Ulster Rugby”.
The complainant highlighted that “those words are not mine”.
When asked if she had “watered down” either her following of rugby or knowledge of people who played she said: “Not at all. I have not watered down anything”.
“I don’t follow Ulster rugby, I don’t follow Irish rugby either,” she added.
Mr Jackson (26), of Oakleigh Park, Belfast is charged with one count of rape and one count of sexual assault and Mr Olding (24), of Ardenlee Street, Belfast, is charged with one count of rape.
Blane McIlroy (26), of Royal Lodge Road, Ballydollaghan, Belfast, is accused of one count of exposure.
Rory Harrison (25), from Manse Road, Belfast, is charged with perverting the course of justice and withholding information.
They all deny the charges.
‘CCTV footage’
The court was also shown CCTV footage from Ollie’s nightclub where the complainant and defendants had been socialising separately prior to the “after party” at Mr Jackson’s home.
The complainant said she had not been aware Mr Jackson was in the VIP area.
The footage showed the complainant and a friend of hers dancing in the nightclub among other patrons, including members of the Northern Ireland football squad and staff.
The complainant acknowledged she could be seen stumbling and was drunk in Ollies. Previously she told the court she had consumed one-and-a-half glasses of wine at a pre-party and three double vodkas at Ollies.
She confirmed she could not remember briefly placing her hand on the knee of footballer Kyle Lafferty or momentarily holding on to Will Grigg’s arm.
Mr Kelly asked if it was typical for her not to remember things when she had been drinking?
“I don’t remember every single moment on a night out,” she replied. Asked if she was attracted to celebrities at the time she said: “No. I didn’t know who these people were.” When asked if she knew who Mr Jackson was she said: “I knew his name, yes and I knew what he looked like, yes.”
The trial has been adjourned until Monday.