Michael Waters loses appeal over assault causing harm

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

Michael Waters lost his appeal against his conviction for assault causing harm when a three-judge Court of Appeal dismissed his case on 1 June 2017. It found his conviction at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was safe.

In October 2013, Waters received a suspended three-year sentence following a majority-jury conviction for assaulting Marian Wallace on 4 January 2012. The assault at her south Dublin creche left her with a broken nose. He was also ordered to have no contact with Wallace or any member of staff at her creche for 15 years.

Wallace said Waters headbutted her in the face. Waters, whom the report described as disabled and suffering from a progressive muscle-wasting condition, claimed she pulled and dragged him from behind. He said she injured her nose when he got in front of her and fell onto her. Wallace said this never happened.

Waters appealed his conviction and sentence on ten grounds, including alleged failures by prosecutors to disclose witness statements, including statements from Wallace. Mr Justice John Edwards said the court found no significant inconsistency in the undisclosed statements. Waters had not engaged with the evidence given at trial or demonstrated how the material might have changed the outcome. The court rejected all grounds of the conviction appeal and refused his application to introduce new evidence through further cross-examination about the statements. It also rejected grounds alleging failures in the Garda investigation or prosecution embellishment of evidence resulting in unfairness.