Appeals dismissed in Limerick Racecourse rape case

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Three defendants have lost appeals against their convictions and sentences in the Limerick Racecourse rape case. The Court of Criminal Appeal rejected their grounds and said the convictions and sentences stand. The proceedings were reported on 11 June 2026.

Two boys were convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in a car at the racecourse on 26 December 2022. They were aged 13 and 15 at the time. A third boy, then aged 15, was convicted of four counts of aiding and abetting the rapes and sexual assaults. He was acquitted of false imprisonment. All three denied the charges.

Following their trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced each of the two boys convicted of rape to seven and a half years’ detention, with the final 18 months suspended. He sentenced the third defendant to five years in jail, also suspending the final 18 months. The conditions included engaging in sexual offending programmes and having no contact with the complainant.

The judge said the third defendant had taken some responsibility for his involvement but struggled to understand it. The court heard that he had moved the car during the attack. The boys had given differing accounts to gardaí and eventually all claimed the encounter was consensual.

One appeal ground concerned assistance given to a juror who became ill during the trial. The appeal judges found no valid concern arose from the incident and said the trial judge was right not to discharge the jury.