The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against conviction by a man identified as A.B., upholding his conviction on 17 counts of sexual offences against his stepdaughter.
The appeal concerned a conviction returned by a jury on 29 January 2019. The Court of Appeal judgment, delivered on 18 February 2021 by Mr Justice McCarthy, records that the complainant was born on 8 July 2001 and lived with A.B. and her mother. The offences were alleged to have occurred in the family home over a period covered by the indictment from 2010 to 2017.
The court considered three grounds of appeal. A.B. argued that a voluntary interview statement made before his arrest should have been excluded because he did not understand that he could receive a solicitor free of charge. The court said the Gardaí had explained, through an interpreter, that he was free to leave, did not have to answer questions and could consult a solicitor. It also noted that he later made statements after arrest that corroborated what he had said in the voluntary interview. The court rejected this ground, finding no basis to exclude the statement for unfairness.
A.B. also challenged the admission of his wife’s earlier witness statement under section 16 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. At trial, she accepted some parts and denied others. The Court of Appeal said the trial judge had considered whether the statement was reliable, whether admitting it would be unfair and what weight it should receive. It upheld the decision to admit the statement, noting that its weight remained for the jury.
The final ground concerned the trial judge’s amendment of the dates in Count 1 to a period between 8 July 2011 and 7 July 2013. The appeal court said the amendment addressed the child witness’s lack of specific recollection and that the allegations and their timeframe were clear from the evidence. It rejected the argument that the amendment caused prejudice.
The jury had found A.B. guilty on Count 1, Counts 14 to 28 and Count 32. The source records concurrent prison sentences, including 12 years on Counts 14 to 28 and five years on Count 32. Counts 29 to 31 were taken into consideration. The Court of Appeal’s order was to dismiss the appeal against conviction; the judgment does not describe a separate appeal against sentence.