Four men convicted of sexually abusing deaf relative at end of State's longest criminal trial
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
Four men have been convicted at the Central Criminal Court of sexually abusing their deaf relative, ending the longest criminal trial in the history of the State. The jury completed its work after almost 51 hours of deliberations over 14 days, on the 131st day of a trial that started in October. The jury could not agree verdicts on three counts, and sentences have yet to be imposed.
The parties cannot be named for legal reasons and are referred to in reporting as Accused A to G. Seven men originally went on trial charged with a combined total of 103 sexual abuse charges. The Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew 83 charges after the prosecution rested its case, and all charges against one man were withdrawn. Six men faced a combined total of 20 charges, 16 of which related to the main complainant. The abuse was alleged to have occurred over a 19-year period between 1995 and 2014. The men denied all of the charges.
The jury convicted Accused B (48) of three counts of rape and one count of anal rape of the main complainant on dates between 2006 and 2014. It convicted Accused E (33) of two counts of anally raping her between 2007 and 2009, and Accused F (33) of one count of raping her between 2007 and 2009.
Accused C (35) was convicted by majority verdicts on all ten counts he faced. One count, of anally raping a younger sister who was a child at the time, was decided first. The remaining nine included one count of sexual assault and two counts of rape relating to a second sister, and six counts relating to the main complainant: three of rape, two of anal rape and one of sexual assault, between 2003 and 2010.
The jury was unable to agree verdicts on three counts: a remaining count of rape against Accused F, a single count of rape against Accused A (55), and a single count of rape against Accused G (46).
Ms Justice Caroline Biggs remanded the three convicted men who were present in court into custody until a sentence hearing the following month. Accused C was not in court, and after an application from the prosecution the judge issued a bench warrant for him. Accused A and Accused G were remanded on the same terms for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions on the remaining counts. The judge ordered victim impact statements and other reports to be prepared.