Man sentenced for sexually assaulting his niece

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

A man was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on 9 December 2016 after being convicted of sexually and indecently assaulting his niece.

He was found guilty of 15 counts of sexual assault and four counts of indecent assault. He had initially faced 39 counts involving two sisters, but the convictions related only to one of them.

The Court of Appeal judgment said the abuse occurred between 14 April 1988 and 24 December 1994, when the complainant was aged between 10 and 16. It said the assaults took place at her grandmother’s home and her family home.

The man appealed his conviction on grounds including the trial judge’s handling of a defence application based on the possibility of collusion between the complainants. The appellant also challenged the jury warnings and other aspects of the trial. The respondent argued that the issues raised concerned the weight of the evidence, rather than its admissibility.

The Court of Appeal judgment, delivered by Ms. Justice Isobel Kennedy on 17 November 2020, discussed the collusion issue. The available extract ends before it states the disposition of the appeal.