Lawyers for a homeless man who admits sexually assaulting a woman in a laneway have said he did not initially accept that a woman could be so drunk as to be incapable of consent. The woman was extremely drunk and walking around the streets in her bare feet when she met Las Vegas Balan (aged 25). CCTV footage of the laneway shows Balan groping the woman and then trying to knock her to the ground. Mr Justice White said Balan “quite simply took advantage of her” although the offence was not accompanied by gratuitous violence. “She needed care and assistance rather than exploitation” said Mr Justice White.

Source: Irish Examiner January 20, 2020 16:41 UTC