Former Scout leader loses appeal against rape and assault convictions

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

A former Scout leader from Limerick has lost his appeal against convictions for raping one cousin and sexually assaulting her two sisters. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal on 7 May 2026.

He had pleaded not guilty. At a Central Criminal Court trial sitting in Limerick in February 2024, he was convicted of five of six offences and acquitted of one charge of indecent assault. Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo sentenced him to seven and a half years in April 2024.

The convictions comprised rape and two indecent assaults against one sister at her home between 1979 and 1981, when she was aged six to eight, and one sexual assault against each of her sisters between May and September 1991, when they were teenagers. The women reported the abuse to gardaí in 2019.

On appeal, defence counsel Michael Bowman argued that a letter purporting to be from a juror raised concerns about the verdicts. He also challenged the trial judge’s refusal to discharge the jury after a complainant used the word “rape” in evidence about an indecent assault allegation. Dean Kelly, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said a not-guilty verdict had been returned on that charge.

Delivering judgment, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said the verdicts were unanimous and no juror had raised an issue at trial. He said material purporting to come from a juror could not be received after trial to challenge a verdict, and interviewing jurors for an investigation would be contempt of court. The court rejected all grounds of appeal. The court also heard that the man did not intend to appeal his sentence.