Four men convicted of sexual offences against teenage girl

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

Four young men were convicted of sexual offences against a 17-year-old girl at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 7 April 2022.

The offences took place in the early hours of 27 December 2016 near Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, and Tullamore, Co Offaly. The jury found all four men guilty of sexual assault, three guilty of rape and two guilty of falsely imprisoning the girl in a car.

One man was convicted of rape and sexual assault but found not guilty of false imprisonment. Another was convicted of rape at two locations, sexual assault and false imprisonment. A third was convicted of oral rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment. The fourth was convicted of two counts of sexual assault.

The jury found each accused not guilty on some counts. A fifth man had previously pleaded guilty to rape.

The four men were remanded in custody pending sentencing, which was expected at the end of the following month. Ms Justice Tara Burns paid tribute to the complainant for giving evidence and exempted the jurors from further jury service for the rest of their lives.