Courts / Limerick / Report
'Sorry for being a bollocks': farmer appeals conviction for raping ex
Summary
In 2019, a Central Criminal Court jury convicted 31‑year‑old farmer Eamon Roche of raping his ex‑partner in his car on a country road after a Garda chase. He was sentenced to six years' imprisonment by Mr Justice Paul McDermott. Roche appealed, arguing the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on the possibility of recklessness and the significance of the defendant's 'driving episode' and subsequent text messages. He claimed the judge should have considered the defence's claim that his apology for "being a bollocks" was about speeding away from a checkpoint, not an admission of guilt. The Director of Public Prosecutions countered that the judge had charged the jury correctly and had gone further than necessary. The appeal judgment is reserved. The case involved a relationship that had ended less than a year earlier, with the complainant alleging Roche forced sex after she feared for her life during the chase.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'Sorry for being a bollocks': farmer appeals conviction for raping ex. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- March 21, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
- April 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2021-11-23 Publication
Why: The defence said this was an apology for speeding away from a garda checkpoint because the car he had been driving at the time did not have any tax, insurance, or up-to-date NCT, and not for anything else. Defence account reported by CNI
Places mentioned
- Court of Appeal
- Central Criminal Court
Topics
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