The dress worn by a complainant was produced during a trial for rape, prompting questions as to whether this form of evidence is appropriate.

24-year-old Patrick Faulkner was sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape of a 15-year-old girl during a party in Limerick, when he was 18 years old.

Faulkner was convicted of the rape by a jury in February and was sentenced last week.

During the trial, the dress worn by the survivor of the attack on the night was produced in court, and she was also asked whether she was wearing underwear.

Speaking on Moncrieff, solicitor and sexual assault survivor, Sarah Grace, described the dress production as "completely unacceptable." 

"The words 'no' and the words 'stop' are the clearest signals of lack of consent, let alone the fact they were said repeatedly and the fact that she was resisting him physically as well.

"It's really not rocket science to say she didn't consent, and yet the accused and the defence both tried to insist that she did consent.

"They produced her dress to the court and jury, parading around and asked her was she wearing any underwear? The fact that was allowed to happen in what we call courts of justice, I find just completely unacceptable."

Ms Grace continued: "I think this case is the reason I'm so outraged. This one in particular, the facts were so clear".

"It feels like we are candidly wasting taxpayers' money, spending time on trials that cost a lot of money.

"Every time a trial happens, there are hundreds of victims waiting in the backlogs waiting for their turn."

Ms Grace herself is a sexual assault survivor. On 17 July 2019, a burglar broke into her apartment and attacked her as she slept.

"I went to bed at a reasonable time. My window had stupidly been left a little bit open on the safety lock and a burglar broken and assaulted me as I slept."

"There was no question of consent, and yet some of the questions and the facts that were put to me were bordering on 'did you really understand what was happening' and 'How can it be that a man breaks into a woman's house 3am, climbs onto her bed and sexually assaulted her, but it wasn't his intention to sexually assault her'."

When any sexual offence goes to trial in Ireland, it is mandatory that the victim of crime takes to the stand and be cross-examined.

"In the eyes of the law, they are not treated as a victim, they are treated as a witness, which means they are not afforded legal representation. So you are on your own and you're navigating, in my opinion, sneakily crafted questions."

Ms Justice Creedon imposed a sentence of seven and a half years to Patrick Faulkner, taking into account the man’s age at the time of offending and his co-operation with the Garda investigation.

She suspended the final six months of the term for a year.

Nothing New

A resurgence of arguments regarding the ban of clothing during trials in the Republic of Ireland are beginning again.

Last year, during a sentencing hearing following a rape conviction in Cork, a rape victims underwear was produced in the court.

In 2018, protests took place in Cork and other parts of the country following a trial in which the jury was asked by the accused’s barrister to consider that the complainant had been wearing a lace-fronted thong at the time of the alleged offence.

Ms Grace said: "I cannot think of any scenario in which it would add to the evidence in any way".

"Having to recount that while someone is aggressively producing a dress that you wore or underwear, and implying that somehow you should be ashamed by this and this was your fault.

"It was not your fault. It was never your fault."

The 24 hour National Rape Crisis Centre helpline is 1800778888.