The young woman in the witness box was asked by the barrister: “How did you feel being back at Paddy Jackson’s house?”The young woman in the witness box was asked by the barrister: “How did you feel being back at Paddy Jackson’s house?”Laughter, jeers and scoffs from public gallery at woman were shocking“Pretty neutral, actually,” she replied evenly – as scornful laughter rang out in the public gallery. In contrast with the atmosphere of almost monastic austerity in the closed courtroom of an in-camera rape trial in the Republic, the free-for-all atmosphere that prevailed in the Belfast rape trial was frankly shocking. At least three-quarters of the public gallery seemed to be in support of the defendants. Naturally, it was worst when the young woman herself was in the witness box. Rape trial day-trippers were another unsavoury feature of this trial.

Source: Irish Independent March 31, 2018 10:41 UTC