Man's sexual assault conviction quashed after barrister's error

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

A man’s conviction for sexually assaulting his daughter was quashed by the Court of Appeal, reported on 7 March 2019. His original conviction followed a jury trial at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court, where he received a three-year sentence with the final year suspended on 12 December 2016.

The appeal court found that the trial judge should have allowed defence counsel to correct a factual error in her closing speech about the complainant’s evidence. It regarded the conviction as unsafe and unsatisfactory.

The court was due to hear arguments on whether a retrial would be appropriate at a later date.