Courts / Ireland / Report

Rapist pair fail in appeals

Summary

The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeals of two men in their twenties against their convictions for raping a young woman. The first accused, who pleaded not guilty to raping the complainant at an address in a town in the west of Ireland in 2017, and his co-accused, who pleaded not guilty to the oral rape of the same woman at the same time and place, were found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in November 2019. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon sentenced both men to seven years' imprisonment. In a written judgment, Court President Mr Justice George Birmingham rejected the first appellant's arguments that the trial judge failed to distinguish his case from his co-accused's and omitted a corroboration warning. The second appellant's claim that the State failed to preserve evidence by not seizing his clothing was also dismissed as contrived. The court affirmed the convictions, noting that the jury had considered the separate matters and rejected the defences. The appeals were heard by Brendan Grehan SC and Colm Smyth SC for the appellants, and Eilis Brennan SC for the DPP.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Rapist pair fail in appeals. Charges or matters: raping the woman at an address in a town in the west of Ireland on a date in 2017; the oral rape of the same woman at the same time and place. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

• November 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2022-04-08 Publication

Why: Referring to first appellant's complaint that the trial judge failed to highlight to the jury the differences in the cases against both men, Mr Justice Birmingham said that because "the question of separate trials" was never raised during the trial, the appellate court did not regard this argument as relevant. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Appeal

Read the original CNI report