A man accused of raping a woman with Down Syndrome in his Dublin city flat has decided to take to the stand to give his version of events.

The woman, who is aged in her 20s, claims he brought her back to his apartment after she became separated from her mother while out for a run in 2013.

The man says he used to regularly approach women on the street and ask them to come back to his place.

He told the jury he had never heard of Down Syndrome before his arrest, and would have left her alone if he had known.