The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by K.C. against his conviction on 56 counts of indecent assault, rejecting all three grounds of appeal.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Mahon on 21 June 2018, concerns a conviction entered by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury on 22 October 2015. K.C. was sentenced in November 2016 to concurrent nine-year prison terms, with the final four years suspended on conditions. The sentence was to begin after the lawful end of an earlier nine-year sentence for indecently assaulting his sister.
The offences in this case were alleged to have occurred between 1980 and 1985. The complainant, K.C.’s younger brother, said he was abused regularly during that period, when he was aged between nine and 14. He first reported the allegations to gardaí in 2014.
One appeal ground concerned the trial judge’s decision to allow an additional count and further prosecution evidence during the complainant’s testimony. The issue arose around an alleged assault on 3 August 1985, when the complainant said he was at the family home after a horse won at Galway races. Defence counsel argued that late disclosure of evidence about scouts arriving and leaving during a jamboree undermined the cross-examination already conducted about whether the complainant could have been both at the camp and at home.
The Court of Appeal held that the trial judge had discretion to permit the amendment and admit the evidence. It said the proposed count was within the period covered by the broader allegations, the complainant’s account was specific, and the defence had an opportunity to address the matter before cross-examination was complete. The court dismissed this ground and the related challenge to the witness evidence.
The appellant also argued that the jury should have been discharged after online posts linked the trial to an earlier case involving his sister. The posts referred to the earlier nine-year sentence and its appeal. The trial judge asked jurors whether they had accessed outside information; none said they had. She directed them to decide the case only on evidence heard in court. The Court of Appeal found no basis to overturn the decision to continue the trial.
With all grounds rejected, the appeal was dismissed.