The High Court prohibited the trial of a man charged with rape and indecent assault against two younger sisters, finding that lengthy delays meant he could not receive a fair trial.
The judicial review concerned 120 counts on an indictment listed for trial before the Central Criminal Court. The trial had been stayed while the application was considered. The allegations related to events between December 1971 and May 1981; the judgment says the specific dates were unknown. The allegations were not findings that the offences occurred.
The sisters made formal complaints to gardaí in July and September 1999. The man was charged in January 2002 and sent forward for trial the following month. The judgment records that he sought prohibition on the basis that delay in making and processing the complaints made a fair trial impossible.
Justice de Valera found that the complainants had been in a position to complain for at least 18 years but chose not to, keeping the matter within the family. The court said the delay had prevented the parents from giving evidence or making statements, and that the location of the alleged events had changed and was no longer under family control. It also considered the psychologist’s evidence, finding that it did not establish a compelling reason preventing the complainants from going to authorities.
On the prosecution’s handling of the complaints, the judge accepted the investigating sergeant’s explanations for several periods of work. But the period from July 2000 to June 2001 was excessive on its face and unexplained. The judgment also identified other delays as excessive in the absence of an explanation and concluded that this provided a further ground for prohibition.
The court granted the order sought, prohibiting the trial on the counts in question. It did not determine whether the allegations were true.