The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of a former scout leader found guilty of 16 counts of indecent assault against boys during scouting trips between 1987 and 1990.
The appellant, identified as MNS, had challenged his conviction on the sole ground that the trial judge should have ordered a separate trial for allegations made by one of the five complainants.
MNS was convicted by a unanimous jury in the Circuit Criminal Court on April 25, 2024. The complainants were aged between 10 and 14 at the time of the offending and belonged to the same scouting troop, where MNS was one of their leaders. The offences occurred during nights away at three locations identified in the judgment only as X, Y and Z.
One complainant, JO'S, made allegations that included sexual assaults which were more serious than those described by the other complainants and, according to his account, involved physical violence and verbal abuse. MNS argued that trying those allegations alongside the others unfairly prejudiced his defence.
The prosecution accepted there were differences but pointed to common features: all five complainants were boys of similar ages, belonged to the same troop, knew MNS through his leadership role and alleged offending during scouting trips within the same period.
Delivering the court's judgment on June 3, Ms Justice Tara Burns said the more serious allegation differed from the other indecent assaults in gravity rather than character. The court found the similarities between the allegations significant and held that their joinder did not cause unfair prejudice or embarrassment to the defence.
The court also noted that the jury had not convicted MNS on the most serious disputed count: it had disagreed on Count 5, after which the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi. The trial judge had separately directed a not guilty verdict on Count 4.
The appeal against conviction was dismissed. MNS had been sentenced in June 2024 to concurrent terms of four and a half years' imprisonment on each conviction, with the final six months suspended for 12 months.