The jury will resume deliberations tomorrow (Friday) in the trial of a Limerick man accused of torturing, raping and imprisoning his girlfriend over a seven day period.
Jurors spent nearly three hours considering verdicts today after being addressed by Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan and lawyers for both sides.
The ten day trial at the Central Criminal Court has heard that the accused dragged the mother of his child into a car when he suspected she was seeing another man.
The woman said she was beaten and taken to a house where she was kept against her will. Over the course of six days she was raped “countless times” including with a bottle of beer.
She alleged the man held her head under water in a basin until she started to drown and that he scalded her genitals with hot water. She said he also encouraged his friend to rape her.
The woman told the jury that on the sixth day she was brought to another house where the accused went into a jealous rage and beat her with a shovel until it broke.
The defence admit that the accused beat the woman once but says that the other allegations are false. It says the sex was all consensual and the woman had many opportunities to leave the house if she wanted to.
It has also pointed to evidence that the woman was happy with the man, such as her giving him a love bite during the alleged ordeal.
The 35-year-old accused has pleaded not
guilty to nine counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment and four counts of assault causing harm at various locations in Limerick between May 3 and May 9, 2012.
