Ruth Coppinger holds up thong in Dail

Sleeper12 wrote: »

There is nothing reported about him that shows he has any cop on at all. 27 years of age I was four years into my first mortgage, self employed and, married with two children.

Having no cop-on is not a crime, thankfully, or else half the country would be in jail.

The jury were also not asked to pass judgment on his maturity, good sense, or whether he had a mortgage, wife, or children. They were asked to decide whether he committed a rape.

By the way, the average age of an Irish groom is now 36, so an unmarried 27-year-old is hardly remarkable. And a 17-year-old in Ireland is over the age of consent, so there's no offense there, either.

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I believe he is married as it's been posted that he was cheating on his wife & children.



He was found not guilty & yes he is a very lucky man that the court wasn't judging him on stupidity



I don't know why everyone feels the need to point out that 17 is above the age to consent. We all know this but that doen't change the fact that she is a minor in this case.

Sex with a minor is sex with someone under the age of 17 in this country
So how was she a minor

Jack Moore wrote: »

We do not live in a world where getting so drunk that one can not control their actions and would pass out and not even notice someone haveing sex with them is safe
It should be
It could be
But it isn’t

Nullzero, this attitude above is part of the reason why I didn't report.

neonsofa wrote: »

Yeah exactly. So no point saying what anybody should have done. In theory that's obviously the right course of action but it's not always easy to do and shoulda woulda coulda is all great in hindsight.

At first I didn't know what to think, I felt guilt and shame and blamed myself thinking I'd encouraged him and it was my fault for getting so drunk. Hindsight really is 20/20

Bigbagofcans wrote: »

Cleopatra, I'm so so sorry to hear of the assault you went through. I'm so glad you stopped blaming yourself and I hope you find some peace after what you went through

The posters in this thread who belittle sexual assault by using phrases such as 'copped a feel' should be ashamed of themselves.
I hope you never have to go through such a thing.

Thank you very much for your kinds words, it means a lot.

Rennaws wrote: »

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you..

The guy sounds like a complete scumbag however the bit in bold above is not always true.

People can be in the middle of a black out and appear drunk but otherwise relatively normal as in able to walk and speak etc..

I know because I was like that myself. People would often tell me that I seemed grand while on a night out but I wouldn't remember speaking to them.

I recall this coming up in a rape case in the UK where the accuser said they couldn't remember anything yet CCTV showed them walking into the hotel unaided and looking relatively sober.

I have some mental health problems so I do occasionally get black out drunk and that is my issue, I take responsibility for that, my friends and family who have seen me in this condition in the past know that it's very obvious that I'm in a state of black out drunk. I don't make any sense, I talk rubbish, sometimes I can be a bit upset or aggressive, I have trouble walking.

Candie wrote: »

Cleopatra, I'm so sorry that happened to you. You didn't do anything to deserve that, it's the sole fault of the person who decided to hurt you when you couldn't defend yourself. I hope you get some help to deal with this, its a huge deal and a burden you don't have to bear alone.

I still feel guilt at times and find it difficult to call it an assault or rape and think it was my fault, I think I'll always struggle with that. But I've gotten to the stage where there are times when I can call it rape and I didn't feel comfortable saying that before as I felt I was being too dramatic. Thank you so much for your kind words, knowing that there are people that believe me and don't think I brought it all on myself helps me.

Sleeper12 wrote: »

This girl was a minor. Not under the age of consent but a minor all the same

So what?

Having sex with a 17-year-old is not an offence in Ireland.