A 43-YEAR-OLD man accused of raping his young brother-in-law told a jury yesterday the boy was "telling lies from the start".
The father of two is pleading not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to charges of buggery and anal rape of the Co Cork youth on three unknown dates from January 1989 to July 1993.
The boy, now aged 14, said he had often gone to play with a computer in the defendant's house. On about five or six occasions, the accused came behind him, lifted him up and raped him, he said.
He said he had been too shy and embarrassed to tell anyone about this until he spoke to a cousin some time after July 1993. He denied a defence suggestion that his claims were a concoction.
His mother recalled one occasion when he told her he was sore, but she did not think anything of it. She thought he had constipation. She said he would go to the defendant's house to help babysit and to play with his children. But in the winter of 1992-93 he began refusing to go but, she would persuade him to, she said.
The defendant told prosecuting counsel, Mr Maurice Gaffney SC (with Ms Una Ni Raifeartaigh) the rape allegations were "utter rubbish" and the boy had got "plenty of help with them".
Earlier, in direct evidence to his counsel, Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC (with Mr Brendan Grehan), the defendant said he had been "dumb-founded" by the allegations. He suffered from angina and could not have lifted the boy up to abuse him.
Under cross-examination by Mr Gaffney, he agreed he may have used a "Kango hammer" (a large drill) and a sledge hammer in 1993 while helping to remove a fireplace from the alleged victim's house.
He denied the boy began refusing to go to the house because he was being sexually abused. One reason for the boy's reluctance was that he was told he could not have the computer on all the time.
The trial, before Mr Justice Flood and a jury of six men and six women, continues.