Dublin man's removal from sex offenders register ordered with one-month stay

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

Judge Martin Nolan ordered a 61-year-old Dublin man's removal from the sex offenders register at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 11 November 2015, but stayed the order for one month to allow time for a possible State appeal. The man cannot be named for legal reasons.

He was found guilty after a trial in March 2000 of indecently assaulting his daughter over five years from when she was seven. He was also convicted of sexually assaulting her when she was 23 and had fallen asleep in his house after they had been drinking together. He had denied all charges. He was jailed for a total of two years in 2000 for all offences.

Probation Services assessed him as at low risk of reoffending. James Dwyer, prosecuting, said the assessment was based on the man's age and profile. The judge said no assessment could establish that someone posed no risk, so low risk was probably the best that could be said.

The man told the court he was not a danger to the public and wanted the register's obligations and monitoring removed. A garda testified that the monitoring served the common good and that the man was not receiving undue attention.

Judge Martin Nolan said keeping the man on the register did not serve the common good. He described the application as novel and said this was the court's first ruling on such an application.