Four men convicted in abuse trial; sentence hearing delayed for absent brother

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

Four men were convicted of sexually abusing their deaf relative after a trial at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 13 July 2026. The men had denied the charges.

Accused B, the woman’s uncle, was convicted of three counts of rape and one of anal rape against her between 2006 and 2014. Her brother, Accused E, was convicted of two counts of anally raping her between 2007 and 2009. Another brother, Accused F, was convicted of one count of raping her during the same period.

Accused C, another brother, was convicted of ten counts. On 9 June, the jury found him guilty by a majority of anally raping a younger sister, Complainant 3, when she was a child, between September 2010 and September 2014. On 10 June, it found him guilty by a majority of the remaining nine counts: one sexual assault and two rapes of Complainant 2, and three rapes, two anal rapes and one sexual assault of the main complainant.

The jury could not agree on a further rape charge against Accused F or on rape charges against two other uncles, Accused A and Accused G. On 13 July, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges against the two uncles. All charges against a fourth brother, Accused D, had been withdrawn during the trial.

Ms Justice Caroline Biggs issued a bench warrant for Accused C after he failed to appear for the remaining verdicts. His sentence hearing could not proceed in his absence; the court heard gardaí had no information about his whereabouts. Defence counsel said psychological reports for Accused E and Accused F would not be ready until October. Mitigation for the three men present was scheduled for 19 October.

The woman said she now felt free after years of feeling trapped and controlled by her family.