The Court of Appeal has dismissed J. O’C.’s appeal against 29 sexual assault convictions, concluding that none of his six grounds of appeal was made out and that the convictions were safe.
A jury convicted J. O’C. in March 2012 of offences involving four female complainants. He received an eight-year total prison sentence in May 2012. The appeal court’s judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Edwards on 18 February 2015, reviewed challenges to the trial process; it did not retry the allegations.
The appeal argued that the charges lacked sufficient detail, that the complainants’ cases should have been tried separately, and that the trial judge should not have widened the dates alleged in three counts concerning G.K. The Court of Appeal upheld the trial judge on each point. It said the evidence statements gave enough context for the allegations to be distinguished and tested, and that similarities between the complainants’ accounts had sufficient probative value to justify a joint trial despite their prejudicial effect.
The date range for the three counts involving G.K. was amended during trial from July–August 2003 to July 2002–August 2003. The appeal court held that the dates were not essential elements of the offences and that the amendment was within the trial judge’s discretion. It noted that the defence case was that the van incident had not happened, rather than that it could not have happened on a particular date.
The court also rejected challenges concerning the trial judge’s refusal to discharge the jury, the admission of interview evidence after questioning was suspended overnight, and the refusal to withdraw the case from the jury. On the interview issue, it upheld the trial judge’s finding that the Garda member in charge had formed the required opinion and that J. O’C. had given informed consent to the suspension.
The remaining ground challenged the refusal to direct an acquittal at the end of the prosecution case. The appeal court agreed that the credibility and reliability issues raised were for the jury to assess, and that a guilty verdict could properly be reached on the evidence. It dismissed the appeal against conviction.