Courts / Dublin / Report
Covid lockdown may have pressurised jury, serial abuser submits
Summary
The Court of Appeal heard that the first Covid‑19 lockdown announced in March 2020 may have pressured the jury in a case involving a 60‑year‑old man convicted of grooming and sexually abusing teenage girls. The Central Criminal Court had found that between May 1994 and February 2001 the defendant carried out sexual assaults on 14 children, pleading guilty in 2002 to ten of those attacks and receiving a nine‑year sentence with two years suspended. In March 2020 the jury convicted him of 30 counts of sexual assault against four girls aged 11 to 17, and Ms Justice Tara Burns sentenced him to seven years. The defendant's barrister, Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, submitted 11 grounds of appeal, including that the lockdown announcement may have created a "logical conclusion" for jurors to feel pressured, that the jury deliberated only two hours, and that evidence was introduced in a way that prejudiced the defendant.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Covid lockdown may have pressurised jury, serial abuser submits. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Convicted
When:
- May 1994 Hearing Or Sentence
- February 2001 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 12, 2020 Other
- 2021-10-28 Publication
Why: Counsel said that the trial judge could have told the jury to "pause the process of deliberations to ameliorate circumstances" in order to provide time to implement social distancing. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Plea: Guilty
Finding: Convicted
Outcome: Convicted; The announcement of the first Covid lockdown in March last year may have put pressure on the jury in the case of a "true predator" who was later jailed for grooming and sexually abusing teenage girls, the Court of Appeal has heard. Ms Justice Tara Burns jailed him for seven years on those offences.; Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and Ms Justice Una Ní Raifeartaigh, adjourned matters to tomorrow for finalisation of submissions in the appeal.
Places mentioned
- Court of Appeal
- The Central Criminal Court
- Central Criminal Court
- Dublin
- Mr Ó Lideadha's view
Topics
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