AZ’s sexual abuse conviction upheld by Court of Appeal

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

AZ’s conviction for sexually abusing his nephew was upheld by the Court of Appeal, reported on 26 October 2021.

The abuse was alleged to have taken place at AZ’s South Dublin home between 1989 and 1991, when his nephew was 14. AZ denied wrongdoing at trial and argued on appeal that his mother’s death left him without evidence to support his defence.

The court dismissed the appeal, finding it could not know what his mother’s evidence might have been and was not persuaded that her absence deprived AZ of a realistic opportunity to pursue a useful line of defence.