Northern Irish man charged with rape of teenager in Torremolinos hotel room near Malaga in Spain’s Costa del Sol

Court case first of its kind in Northern Ireland

A man from Northern Ireland has gone on trial for the rape of a teenager in a Torremolinos hotel five years ago.

Michael Joseph Cregan, 35, is charged with raping the 17-year-old girl in a room in the Hotel Los Alamos in Torremolinos near Malaga in Spain between July 31 and August 20 2014. He denies the charge. 

The case is understood to be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland with the defendant and complainant being from the region, while the alleged offence is said to have occurred abroad.

Prosecuting barrister John Orr QC told the jury at Derry Crown Court that Cregan and the complainant were in a party of six, all of them from Derry, on holiday in 2014.

The group included the complainant and the defendant, the complainant’s sister and her sister’s then partner, the complainant’s father and a male family friend.

He added that in June 2016 the complainant attended her sister’s 30th birthday party, at which one of the guests was Cregan.

Mr Orr said: “When she saw him at the party that brought things back and she decided to go to the police.”

He said that on the last night of the holiday in 2014, the group had gone out drinking.

He added: “She became shaky on her feet and was brought back to the hotel by Cregan. She remembers waking up in bed after a short time and the defendant was on top of her” having sex with her.

The trial continues.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Shirin Aguiar

Comments