����ý

A food delivery driver has appeared in court charged with the rape of a woman at her home near Belfast.

Silviu Iakob, 28, from Glandore Drive in the city, is accused of forcing his way into a bedroom to carry out the attack and then fleeing the property in Newtownabbey.

The defendant claimed that the sexual encounter on 16 October 2024 was consensual.

Mr Iakob was granted bail was ordered to lodge a £3,000 cash surety.

A curfew and a ban on going near the alleged victim's home was also imposed, the court heard.

Prosecutors said the alleged victim informed police that a driver for a food delivery service initially brought an order of online groceries to her home.

That evening the driver returned to her home after she reached out to the company about receiving extra items.

“She answered a knock on the door and asked him to wait two minutes,” a crown lawyer said.

“However, as she reached the kitchen the male grabbed her from behind by the hair and forced her into a bedroom.”

It was alleged that the delivery driver attempted to kiss the woman before he pulled down her pyjama bottoms and pushed her onto a bed.

Prosecution counsel claimed he raped her despite repeated requests for him to stop.

“During this incident she messaged her sister to ask for help,” the barrister submitted.

“This act lasted for four or five minutes before the male… ran out of the house.”

Based on a description of the delivery car that was used, Mr Iakob was identified as the suspect.

Mr Iakob attended a Belfast police station for voluntary questioning and provided intimate samples.

“He gave an account that sexual intercourse with the complainant was consensual,” the prosecutor added.

Bail was opposed by prosecutors who argued Mr Iakob could flee or interfere with the alleged victim due to her address being stored in his car’s sat-nav system.

Defence counsel Conn O’Neill told the court his client has lived in Northern Ireland for seven years and fully cooperated with the investigation.

“He gave a full account of what he said happened and answered every question,” Mr O’Neill stressed.

Granting bail, Mr Justice Scoffield cited both his clear record and the version of events he provided to police.

The judge also directed: “He will be precluded from having a job as a delivery driver which might put him in a similar situation.”