Courts / Ireland / Report

Court factors in daughter's "right to closure" in refusing rapist father more time to lodge appeal

Summary

The Court of Appeal has dismissed the application of an unnamed 77-year-old former professional soccer player to extend the time limit for appealing his convictions. The appellant, who cannot be named to protect his victim, was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury in May 2011 on 60 counts of sexual abuse and 14 charges of rape. The alleged offences occurred between January 2002 and September 2006 in Galway and Roscommon, when his daughter was aged between nine and fourteen. Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan rejected the request for an extension to appeal the convictions, noting the appellant's failure to lodge the appeal within the standard 28-day window. The judge stated that the appellant failed to establish that the interests of justice required an extension, emphasizing the daughter's "right to closure." Although the court considered a psychological report suggesting the appellant suffers from compulsive obsessive personality disorder, Mr Justice Sheehan deemed it of "extremely limited value." However, the court granted a 21-day extension from the date of the ruling for the appellant to lodge an appeal against his sentence. In May 2011, he was sentenced to ten years in prison on each sexual assault count and fifteen years on each rape count, with the final three years of each sentence suspended. The matter regarding the conviction appeal was dismissed, while the sentence appeal timeline was extended.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Court factors in daughter's "right to closure" in refusing rapist father more time to lodge appeal. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Convicted

When:

• May 2011 Incident
• January 2002 Incident
• September 2006 Incident
• 2017-03-03 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal Violent Crime

Read the original CNI report