Court of Appeal rejects Shaun O’Donnell’s conviction challenge

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

The Court of Appeal dismissed Shaun O’Donnell’s challenge to his convictions for rape and sexual assault, leaving his eight-year prison sentence, with no portion suspended, in place.

O’Donnell was convicted at the Central Criminal Court in February 2024 of raping and sexually assaulting a woman at a home in Donegal on March 26th, 2021. A separate sentence of two years and eight months for sexual assault runs concurrently with the rape sentence.

His appeal argued that he should have been acquitted or the proceedings halted because two items were unavailable for DNA testing. The woman had washed her bra and was unsure whether the sanitary pad given to investigators was the one she had worn during the offences.

A forensic scientist told the trial that O’Donnell’s DNA had not been detected on any of the items tested. His lawyers relied on that absence of forensic evidence in addressing the jury. The scientist said she would not expect to recover DNA from penetration without ejaculation after the woman had subsequently had consensual intercourse with her partner.

The appeal judges said the request to halt proceedings over the unavailable items had not been made at trial and no adequate explanation had been given for raising the point on appeal. They held that the argument would fail in any event: despite the lack of DNA evidence connecting O’Donnell to the offences, there was sufficient other evidence for the case to go to the jury.

The court also said victims have no legal obligation to preserve evidence. It held that washing clothing or bedding, and the resulting absence of forensic material, did not automatically make a trial unfair.