MISS S. GREY
appeared on behalf of the prosecution.
MRS. B. JENKINS Q.C. and MR. T. CUTHBERT
appeared on behalf of the defendant.
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Transcribed from the Stenotype notes of
Chapman Davison Ltd.,
Official reporters to the court
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Monday, 25th October, 1999
[Day 7]
ALISON DONNELLY, recalled
Examined by MR. BARNES
Q. Miss Donnelly, I would like to return to the events we were discussing yesterday. Specifically the assault that took place on 29th November last year. I appreciate this is a distressing subject, but it is important that the court is clear about exactly what happened. And you will be aware, I am sure, that you are still under oath. You said the incident occurred at approximately 5.40 p.m. that day?
A. Yes. I was on my way home from work. I got the 5.15 bus.
Q. And that’s the bus you usually got?
A. That’s right.
Q. Did you have any sense in the previous few days that you might have been being followed?
A. One of my flatmates said she’d seen a van parked down the street a few times, but we didn’t think anything of it.
Q. What colour was the van?
A. Just one of those white ones.
Q. Your flatmate didn’t notice if there was anyone in it?
A. No, it was too far away.
Q. On the night of the assault, did you see a van?
A. No. I mean, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. I just didn’t see it.
Q. So you got off the bus, and started to walk towards your flat. What happened next?
A. It’d been raining, and this big truck came past really close and sprayed water all over me. I had my new coat on and I was really annoyed. I suppose I just stopped for a minute. That’s when it happened.
Q. You felt someone behind you?
A. Yes, first he grabbed me and then I felt a bag going over my head and he was dragging me off.
Q. Do you know where he took you?
A. He put me in the back of a van. He’d tied my hands with something that was digging into my wrists and I felt as if I couldn’t breathe.
Q. Do you remember anything else about the van?
A. There was plastic or something on the floor. Some sort of sheeting.
Q. And what happened after that?
A. He took me to a car park off the ring road. I didn’t know that then. But that’s where it was.
Q. What did he do then?
A. I heard him get out of the van and walk round to the back. He dragged me out and pushed me along a few steps. I couldn’t see anything because of the bag. Then he threw me on the ground. And then he pulled off my knickers and raped me.
Q. A subsequent medical examination confirmed that you also received internal injuries from some sort of blunt object. Is that correct?
A. Yes.
MR. JUSTICE HEALEY: I appreciate this is extremely difficult for you, Miss Donnelly, but I must ask you to speak a little louder so that members of the jury can hear what you are saying. Do you feel able to go on?
A. Yes, sir.
MR. BARNES: Thank you, my Lord. Miss Donnelly, was the rape you described the full extent of the assault?
A. No.
Q. What else happened?
A. He beat me up.
Q. I’m afraid I must ask you to be more explicit.
A. He did it to make me shut up – I was trying to scream so he took hold of my head and beat it against the ground.
Q. That was how you sustained the injuries you have now? The injuries visible to the court?
A. Yes.
Q. You suffered a fractured skull?
A. Yes.
Q. And loss of sight in one eye?
A. That was when he kicked me. After he’d finished.
Q. And he removed your jewellery and some of your hair?
A. My earrings. He pulled them out.
Q. Ripping one earlobe, I believe?
A. Yes. And he ripped out some of my hair too.
Q. And where was that?
A. Just here, behind my ear.
Q. How long was it after he left before help arrived?
A. They told me afterwards it was about an hour. I think I must’ve passed out because it didn’t seem that long. But then suddenly there was an ambulance and the police were there.
Q. How long did you spend in hospital, Miss Donnelly?
A. Five weeks.
Q. And have you been able to return to work since the attack?
A. No.
MR. BARNES: I have no further questions.
MR. JUSTICE HEALEY: That seems a convenient moment to break for lunch. Members of the jury, we will resume at 2.15, please.
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‘Shall