The High Court has refused an application to stop the prosecution of a former schoolteacher charged with 67 counts of indecent assault, finding that he had not shown a real or serious risk that he could not receive a fair trial.
The charges concern 11 female complainants who were pupils at a small rural national school between 1965 and 1985. The applicant denies the allegations. The court’s decision concerns his application for judicial review and injunctive relief; it does not determine the criminal charges.
The applicant argued that the passage of time had weakened his defence. He said his memory of pupils and events was poor, potentially helpful witnesses had died, and Gardaí had not made notes of their interviews with complainants. He also relied on his health and the death of a former pupil, referred to in the judgment as A., who had made the first complaint to Gardaí in 2010.
A. alleged that the applicant had assaulted him and described incidents he said he had witnessed involving girls. No charges were brought in relation to A.’s complaints, and he was not listed as a prosecution witness. The judge noted that the female complainants’ accounts did not describe the specific incidents A. had recounted. She found no evidence supporting the applicant’s theory that A. had orchestrated the complaints, and said it was speculative that a trial judge would have ordered A. to be called as a witness.
The applicant also relied on the deaths of three former teachers and his mother, who he said could have supported aspects of his account, including his conduct, timekeeping and use of corporal punishment. The judgment noted that his sister and several former pupils were available to give evidence for the defence. It also recorded that the school’s layout had not materially changed.
The judge accepted that the applicant was elderly, had health problems and had suffered real stress. She concluded, however, that those circumstances and the specific claimed disadvantages did not establish that any unfairness would be unavoidable. The criminal trial judge could address difficulties arising from the age of the allegations through appropriate rulings and directions, and could withdraw the case from the jury if necessary to prevent injustice.
The court therefore refused the relief sought. The prosecution was not stopped, and the judgment made no finding on the applicant’s guilt or innocence.