Donegal man loses appeal against conviction for raping daughter

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

The Court of Appeal rejected Michael Carter’s appeal against his conviction for raping and sexually assaulting his daughter, finding that her disclosure to an aunt was properly admitted at trial. The judgment was delivered on 14 July 2025.

Carter, of Kinnego, Ballymagan, Buncrana, was found guilty in June 2023 following a Central Criminal Court trial of one count of rape and 25 sample counts of sexual assault. The offences took place between June 2010 and June 2014, when his daughter, Karen Harkin, was aged between nine and 12. She waived her anonymity so her father could be named.

Carter denied the charges and maintains his innocence. He did not plead guilty.

On 25 July 2023, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor imposed an 11-year sentence for rape, suspending the final six months for 12 months on strict conditions, including one year’s post-release supervision by the Probation Services. She imposed eight years for the sexual assault counts, to run concurrently, and backdated the sentence to 28 June 2023, when Carter entered custody.

At the appeal launched in May 2025, Michael Bowman SC argued that the aunt’s account of the disclosure had been elicited through questioning and was not voluntary. For the Director of Public Prosecutions, James B. Dwyer SC said the context included the complainant’s distressed state and something relevant on television. The DPP acknowledged that details of the rape were not entirely consistent with her evidence but contended that her statements to the aunt were substantially consistent.

Delivering the judgment, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath said the complaint was consistent with the core aspects of Ms Harkin’s evidence. The court found no error requiring the conviction to be set aside and rejected the appeal.