Clough man’s rape trial ends after he admits sexual assault

Clough man’s rape trial ends after he admits sexual assault

25 January 2017

A RAPE trial has ended suddenly after a Clough man admitted sexual assault.

Twenty seven year-old Andrew Stevenson went on trial at Downpatrick Crown Court last week accused of two counts of rape against a woman in Castlewellan in 2015.

However, after three days of prosecution evidence Stevenson’s lawyers asked for him to be rearraigned. He continued to deny the rape allegations but pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual assault, which was accepted by the prosecution.

Stevenson, of Moneycarragh Road, was remanded on bail pending his sentencing hearing in Downpatrick on February 16.

The court had previously heard the assault happened by a derelict building in the early hours of April 26, 2015.

Giving evidence, the young woman, who cannot be identified, said the assault occurred after she got separated from friends following an argument outside a pub where she had spent the evening.

She claimed she met the defendant as she made her way towards a taxi rank and the assault occurred in a nearby alleyway.