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Convicted child sex offender fails to halt trial on 270 counts of abuse
Summary
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal of an unnamed 71-year-old convicted child sex offender, allowing two separate circuit court trials to proceed. The appellant, who faces 270 counts of historic abuse against six minors alleged to have occurred between December 1978 and March 1993, had previously sought a High Court judicial review to halt the proceedings. He argued that the death of potential witnesses, the delay in bringing charges, and media publicity prejudiced his right to a fair trial. Ms Justice Miriam O'Regan rejected these claims in a January 2021 High Court judgment. In the subsequent appeal, Court President Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, upheld the lower court's decision. The three-judge panel noted that the appellant's prior imprisonment for the sexual abuse of other minors was of central significance. Mr Justice Birmingham dismissed the appellant's suggestion that Gardaí inaction in 1987, when one alleged victim initially complained but did not follow up, as speculative. The court concluded that the issues raised were matters for the trial judge to address, stating it was not appropriate to halt the forthcoming trials. The appellant remains a convicted and sentenced person, and the matter is now set for trial.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Convicted child sex offender fails to halt trial on 270 counts of abuse. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- December 1978 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 1993 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2022-05-24 Publication
Case subjects
Appellant
Outcome: In a judgement delivered by Court President Mr Justice George Birmingham, the three-judge court said the fact the appellant had previously been jailed for the sexual abuse of "other minors" was "of central significance". He noted that when "viewed in the round", the man's "real complaint" derived from the fact that one of the alleged victims, referred to as C in the judgement, contacted gardai with a complaint in 1987 "but had declined to follow up on the initial contact". "At its height, there seems to be a suggestion that if Gardai had been more committed in 1987, it is possible that the extent of the appellant's offending would have emerged at that time, and that each of the complainants would have been identified at that stage," he said. "However, it seems to me that is speculative in the extreme." The jud
Places mentioned
- High Court
- Court of Appeal
Topics
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