Judge warns young woman over dangers of Ecstasy

(CNS): Allegations of rape and sexual assault made by a young woman against her step-father after an alcohol and Ecstasy fueled night were thrown out of court last week as result of insufficient and discredited evidence. The young women admitted voluntarily taking the drug and drinking alcohol with her step-father when her mother was away but claims she passed out and woke wearing no underwear, a hickey on her neck and feeling discomfort. However, with little evidence to support her allegations and various inconsistencies in her story, Justice Charles Quin said there was not enough evidence to support a conviction in what he described as a "particularly sad case".

The court had heard that the young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons but who was over the age of consent at the time of the alleged rape, had been using drugs since she was 15. On the night of the alleged incident she had voluntarily consumed alcohol and taken Ecstasy, or 'mollie' as the drug is known on the street, having planned and agreed to do so some weeks earlier with her step-father.

The young woman had admitted during her evidence that she had no memory of the sexual assault or the rape and had assumed her step-father had sex with her as she said she passed out but he had implied they had the next morning.

In his ruling in response to a 'no case to answer' submission by defense counsel, Fiona Robertson, the judge noted how upsetting the entire case was for the family involved but said there was not enough evidence against the defendant as he returned a not guilty verdict on the two counts.

Noting the young woman's continued use of ganja and her experimentation with other drugs, however, Justice Quin warned that she would face more trouble ahead.

"What is particularly sad is that the complainant has beenusing ganja since the age of 15 years old and she has become a frequent user of this illegal drug. I take this opportunity to warn the complainant that if she continues to take ganja and experiment with drugs such as Ecstasy, more trouble is inevitable for her," he added.

The judge made a point of noting that the collapse of the crown's case was not a reflection on either the police officer who carried out the investigation or the crown counsel who prosecuted the case.