Eamon Roche loses appeal against rape conviction

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

Eamon Roche lost his appeal against his rape conviction at the Court of Appeal on 28 January 2022. The proceedings were reported on 28 January 2022.

He was convicted in April 2019 at the Central Criminal Court of a single count of rape committed on 21 March 2015. He had pleaded not guilty. Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment.

The appeal challenged the trial judge’s directions on recklessness, consent and the defence explanation of text messages. Michael Bowman SC, for Roche, argued that the judge should have addressed a possible “honest mistake” about consent, describing this as a middle ground between the opposing accounts.

The prosecution maintained that Roche’s apologetic texts amounted to an admission of rape. Roche maintained that intercourse was consensual and that the texts concerned an attempted kiss and the car chase. The defence said he was apologising for speeding away from a Garda checkpoint because the car lacked tax, insurance and an up-to-date NCT.

Anne Rowland SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the trial judge had gone further than necessary in directing the jury and that there was no error. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said Roche’s explanation of the texts had been abundantly clear to the jury. The court rejected that appeal ground and the argument concerning a recklessly formed belief in consent, finding the directions comprehensive.