ONE OF THE four men accused of raping a teenage girl “one after another” first told gardaí none of them had sex with the girl, then later told gardaí they all had sex with her, a trial has heard.

The four men, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have all pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the then 17-year-old girl at a location in the midlands on 27 December 2016.

The first accused (22) has also pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of false imprisonment. The second accused (24) has also pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault, one count of oral rape and one count of false imprisonment.

The third accused (24) has also pleaded not guilty to an additional count of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of false imprisonment. The fourth accused (23) has also pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual assault.

All of the offending is alleged to have been committed at various locations in the midlands on the same date against the same woman when the accused were aged between 17 and 19.

It is the prosecution case that the complainant got into a car with the men in the early hours of the morning and was driven to a location where the four accused and a fifth man not before the courts raped her “one after another”.

Giving evidence today, a local garda sergeant told Lorcan Staines SC, prosecuting, that on 27 December 2016, he attended at the address of the third accused having obtained a search warrant, but the address was empty. He said he was then informed the third accused had been found at another address.

The sergeant said he attended at this other address where the third accused identified himself and provided his clothes to gardaí for seizure. He said that while they were in a bedroom in the presence of another garda, he asked a number of questions which the accused answered.

The third accused told gardaí he had been in a midlands town the previous night with his friends and that they had been picked up in a car by the first accused. He said they saw a girl waving down cars on the road and stopped the car.

He said the girl got into the car, they drove to another location in the midlands, then returned to the town where they dropped the girl off. He said he did not have sex with the girl and that none of the others had sex with the girl.

The sergeant said that after this statement was made and they left the bedroom, the third accused told him that he wanted to say something else.

The third accused told gardaí they had stopped the car in another location in the midlands and he got out of the car with the others, while the first accused and the girl stayed inside. He said later the first accused got out, the fifth man got in and he knew they were having sex.

He said he was next, then the fourth accused, then the second accused. He said everyone had sex with her one at a time.

The third accused said that when he was with her, he had sex with her, that he was wearing a condom and that they were both drunk. He said she did not say no and that she was liking it.

A local detective sergeant told Staines that on 27 December 2016, he attended at the address of the second accused man with his colleagues after a warrant was obtained to search that address.

The sergeant said he spoke to the second accused about the clothes he had been wearing the previous night and the accused told him they were in his bedroom. He said they went to the bedroom and he asked the accused if he wanted to make a statement.

He said the accused said he did want to tell him what happened. He said that after this statement was made, the accused gave him the clothes he had been wearing the night before.

In this statement, the second accused told gardaí he had gone out in a midlands town with a few of his friends and that afterwards they were picked up by the first accused. He said a girl approached them, asked them for a lift and she got into the back of the car with them.

He said the girl was all over them in the back of the car and saying that she wanted to get with them. He said she got into the front, but before then she had leaned over to him at one stage, he had touched and played with her hair and she smiled at him.

The second accused said that he said they should not drive to their intended destination and should instead drop her home. He said he had said this because with five lads and one girl in the car he felt this would not end well and that this was common sense really.

He said the girl would not say where her home was, so they drove to another location in the midlands. He said they got out of the car, but that the girl wanted to stay in the car with the third accused.

The second accused said he went for “a piss” and did not know if any of the others had sex with her other than the third accused. He said they all left after about fifteen minutes, then dropped off the fourth accused and the fifth man.

He said the rest of them went back to the midlands town, with him in the back of the car by himself with the girl. He said he tried to kiss her, but she did not respond, and he said she had been all over all of them which is why he tried.

The second accused said the girl had sex with the third accused again and he got out of the car, but the first accused stayed. He said they were finishing up when he got back and that the girl then left the car.

He said he did not know if any of the others had sex with the girl at the first location, saying they could have but he did not know.

The trial continues before Justice Tara Burns and a jury.