JURORS in the trial of a man who denies raping a woman in Penrith have retired to consider their verdicts.
Mark George Farrell, 28, has pleaded not guilty to three charges, all of which allege the rape of a woman in the town.
The allegations arise out of a sexual encounter between Farrell and a woman in a Penrith town centre alleyway during the early hours of April 1.
Farrell has been on trial this week at Carlisle Crown Court, where a jury has heard evidence from the female. She said in a police interview she was “crying”, and “telling him to stop”.
But while giving his evidence, Farrell, of St Ann’s Crescent, Carlisle, insisted: “We both had consensual sex.”
When asked whether he had raped the woman, as alleged, he replied: “No.”
This morning (THURS), a jury of six men and six women listened to closing speeches by the respective barristers in the case. After Judge James Adkin summed up the evidence, jurors then retired to begin their deliberations on the three charges.
