Court of Appeal allows mother’s appeal over convictions for assaulting her children

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal allowed a mother’s appeal against convictions for sexually assaulting three of her disabled children and child neglect. Mr Justice Brian O’Moore said the statements admitted at trial were the only evidence against her and that she should have been acquitted. The Director of Public Prosecutions did not oppose the appeal, and no retrial will be sought.

The woman had been convicted after a retrial in July 2024 of four sexual assault counts relating to her sons and one child neglect count. The appeal court said evidence given by a psychologist during that retrial showed that statements made during interviews with him and a polygrapher could have involved inducements; that evidence had not been before the courts when they earlier ruled the statements admissible.