Pensioner gets stay in sexual assault prosecution

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

An unnamed pensioner secured a stay on his prosecution for alleged sexual assault at the High Court on 16 April 2018. The alleged incidents took place at the complainant’s Dublin home between 1962 and 1963, when she was eight.

The man denies all the charges. He is seeking a permanent prohibition on the prosecution, claiming that the passage of time has prejudiced his ability to receive a fair trial.

His barrister, Patrick Gageby SC, said the complainant alleged that the man and members of his family visited her home regularly. The man denies this and says he rarely visited, if at all. He also says he was working overseas when some of the alleged incidents occurred.

The defence said the man was prejudiced because his mother and sister, who would support his account, had died. Counsel said the complainant first made a statement about him to gardaí in 2016.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan granted permission for the High Court action and stayed the prosecution until the action is resolved. He made the matter returnable in June. The man was due to be tried before a judge and jury at the Circuit Criminal Court the following year.