Man convicted of sexually abusing sisters after trial prohibition was overturned

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

A man was convicted on 29 September 2021 of raping and sexually assaulting his sisters after an earlier order prohibiting his trial was overturned. He cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The convictions comprised one count of rape and eight counts of indecent assault concerning one sister, and four counts of indecent assault concerning the other. The counts on the indictment spanned 1974 to 1981.

At trial, the man maintained that he was living elsewhere at the relevant times and that this was inconsistent with committing the offences. He denied that letters of apology to his sisters related to sexual offending, but admitted touching one sister’s vagina externally on a number of occasions, rubbing against her at their grandparents’ house and touching her thigh. He made no admissions concerning the other sister.

On 1 March 2019, High Court judge Mr Justice Garrett Simons had prohibited the prosecution, finding that delay and the unavailability of potential witnesses created a real or serious risk of an unfair trial. On 22 October 2019, the Court of Appeal set the order aside. It found that the man had not established unavoidable prejudice of the significance required and that the trial judge could address fairness concerns through appropriate rulings and directions.

The Supreme Court refused him leave to appeal the Court of Appeal decision on 28 January 2020. A later Court of Appeal judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy on 24 April 2023, records that he appealed against his convictions and sets out his grounds, including alleged prejudice caused by delay.