The jury in the trial of a Clare man accused of raping his pregnant ex-partner will continue its deliberations today having so far failed to reach a verdict.
The seven women and five men have been out for over two hours already considering whether the 44 year old man, originally from England is guilty or Not Guilty of 11 charges including rape and threatening to kill his former girlfriend.
The accused denies the charges but has admitted a charge of assault.
The 44-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to a total of 6 rape charges and also denies charges of threatening to kill by shooting, threatening to disfigure with a knife, aggravated burglary, false imprisonment and possessing a shotgun with intent to endanger life.
The offences are alleged to have occurred at the woman’s Clare home on September 9th, 2007 in what the complainant described as a seven hour ordeal, which ended following negotiations with Gardai.
After two weeks of evidence at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, the jury deliberated for two hours and ten minutes last evening before Mr Justice Paul Carney allowed them to break for the night.
They’ll return to resume deliberations later this morning.
