Allegations of mistaken identity in Jersey rape trial

Thursday 20 April 2017

The prosecution continues today in the trial of a man accused of raping and indecently assaulting a 31-year-old woman in July 2016.

The defendant, 30-year-old Kevin Irving, denies both charges.

Yesterday, the alleged victim and a series of witnesses gave evidence.

The Royal Court, presided over by Commissioner Sir Christopher Pitchers, heard that the alleged victim had met up with a man - 'Mr A' - she had been talking to through a dating app.

Mr A was accompanied by the defendant. The three went to a club for a drink, before going to a house where Mr A and the complainant had sex in a bedroom, whilst the defendant was downstairs in the lounge.

The complainant says that afterwards, Mr A left the room and she started dozing off. She then says she remembers someone else coming into the room, and she believed it was the same man. She said: "I had sex with someone I believed was Mr A. My memory is unclear. I just remember being in the bed and what happened afterwards."

"Somebody ran upstairs, shouting, the door opened and the lights came on, there was more shouting. I didn’t know who was shouting until I looked up. When I looked up, it was Mr A and he was angry. He called me a 'whore' and a 'bitch'. I thought I was having sex with him. I didn’t understand why it wasn’t him. I felt upset, shocked, scared. I wouldn’t have done anything with Mr Irving, I didn’t know him and I wasn’t interested in him."

The Defence, led by Advocate Ian Jones, also questioned the alleged victim asking her if she remembered talking to the defendant before the alleged rape occurred - to which she replied she didn't remember Mr Irving being in the room at all. Advocate Jones then stated: "If you can’t remember anything that happened in terms of Mr Irving coming into the room, you’re not in the position of saying that a conversation didn't happen because you can't remember."

He then added: "At the time you didn't know what happened, you weren't sure. And you are sitting here today saying you don't recall. My point is that you don't know whether you had sex with Mr Irving or not."

Mr A also appeared in Court to give evidence. He said that after he had sex with the alleged victim, he had left the room to go and have a cigarette. He was then told that something was going on in the bedroom. When he went upstairs, he says he found the defendant on top of the alleged victim.

"I flipped the lights on and went to the corner. They stopped, but casually, not as if they were in shock. She apologised a couple of times. There was no reaction from the female, she wasn't screaming at all. There was no anger or lashing out at that point, it seemed quite casual."

Police officer Mark O'Neill, who arrested the defendant after the alleged rape, said that, "...his demeanour appeared quite relaxed given the circumstances. He was almost falling asleep when we took him to the station."

The trial will resume this morning.