A Fermanagh teenager who claimed she was “drugged and raped” by a man in his 20s at a house in Enniskillen after meeting him on social media has had her case thrown out by the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

The girl, who was 14 years old at the time and cannot be identified, says she has been left “angry and scared” following the alleged attack in June last year which resulted in one man being arrested.

In a telephone interview with The Impartial Reporter, with her mother by her side, Laura (not her real name) said this week: “I am still a child and was a child when this happened. But my childhood was ruined, and I am never going to be the same person I was.

“To make things worse, I am not getting the support I should be getting,” she said.

Last month the PPS took the decision “not to prosecute any person” in relation to the disclosure made by Laura stating that there is “insufficient evidence that the suspect didn’t reasonably believe she was consenting.”

“She was a child, a child,” said her mother, who has written to the PPS requesting that it reviews its decision which also stated that there is no evidence to suggest the suspect was aware that Laura was under 16 when the alleged incident took place.

Both Laura and her mother dispute this, claiming her age was displayed on her social media accounts.

It’s understood a man, who is believed to be in his early 20s, was arrested by police a week after the complaint was made. He has not been charged with any offence.

After receiving a message from a man who contacted her on social media, Laura said she agreed to meet him and did so in a public area in Enniskillen with her friends before also agreeing to go with him to a house with him on her own.

“I did go to the house, but I didn’t want to do anything. I said that a lot of times.

Despite her stating she did not want to have sex with the man, Laura claims she was then coaxed into taking a drug which “completely floored me” before being raped for about an hour.

“He left the room for five minutes first, he brought me a glass of water and offered this drug to me. He said nothing was going to happen but when it did kick in I wouldn’t even notice. It felt like being drunk, he said, so I took it.

“Everything was shaky and I was really weak, I was shaking really badly. I literally could barely see. He kept asking me to do stuff with him, I kept saying no, then he raped me. I was crying, I asked him to stop but he didn’t,” she said.

Laura claims to have suffered bruising to the upper chest area during the alleged assault. A doctor’s report from the Rowan Centre, Northern Ireland’s sexual assault referral centre has been forwarded to the PPS to assist in its investigation.

“He pushed me down, there were bruises on me. I told him to stop, I told him I needed to get my bus home,” she told this newspaper, still with her mother by her side.

“I missed my bus and had to get a taxi home. It was only when I got out of that taxi at home that I realised I had to say something. That’s when I phoned my friends and told them, one of them told her mum and then I told my mum,” she explained.

Laura is a typical teenage girl; she explains how she has pictures of her friends up on the wall. She spends her lazy days off school watching Netflix and chatting with her friends. She loves dogs.

But she says, as does her mother Valerie (not her real name), that the alleged incident has changed her world and left her family horrified.

“This is every parent’s worst nightmare and the last thing you want to hear,” said Valerie.

“I was angry, I still am. Laura has always been a kind and gentle and caring girl. She has always been very happy and confident, quite independent and strong minded. But now there has been a change in her.

“I’ve seen her having nightmares, every single time she closes her eyes she has nightmares, she was traumatised. She still is. What sort of message is the injustice of this PPS decision sending out?”

Valerie further claims her daughter has not received trauma support in Fermanagh “as there is no support available for young people aged over 13 or under 16.”

The response from the PPS, a copy of which has been seen by this newspaper, explained that the “standard of proof required in a successful criminal prosecution is high.”

“The prosecution must satisfy the court of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

“I have carefully considered all the evidence, including the interview Laura provided in her ABE [Achieving Best Evidence] account [with the PSNI] and have concluded that there is insufficient evidence that the suspect didn’t reasonably believe she was consenting.

“Similarly there is no evidence to suggest the suspect was aware that Laura was under 16.”

Valerie has now requested a review into the decision by the PPS stating that the decision maker has “erred in failing to identity the stands of evidence about consent on his part and failed to identify evidence which would support the proposition that the offender thought the victim was under the age of consent.”

In her letter to the PPS, also seen by this newspaper, Valerie claims the decision maker has also “failed to take into account independent evidence, including medical evidence.”

She added: “I would be grateful if you will consider my request for a review of this case.”

A PPS spokeswoman said: “We can confirm a request has been received for a review of a decision not to prosecute in relation to this case.

“As this process is underway, it would not be appropriate to comment any further on this specific file.

“The PPS is fully committed to robustly prosecuting all serious sexual offences, where there is sufficient evidence to do so, and we work hard to engage with victims in a respectful and sensitive way.”