Man (62) has sexual assault conviction overturned on appeal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A 62-year-old unnamed shop owner had his sexual assault conviction at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court overturned on appeal on 7 December 2017.

The conviction concerned the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in his shop in May 2012. He had pleaded not guilty and received a wholly suspended three-year sentence after a jury found him guilty in 2015.

The Court of Appeal found that constitutional fairness required the defence to use CCTV footage during cross-examination. The conviction was set aside because the trial judge had allowed the footage to be shown only after the complainant’s evidence and cross-examination.

The report said the court would later hear submissions on whether to order a retrial.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.