Retired teacher fails to overturn sexual assault conviction

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

The retired teacher failed to overturn his sexual assault conviction at the Court of Appeal, reported on 15 December 2020. The conviction arose from abuse of a student during a particular school year. Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the complainant’s credibility was for the jury and found no basis to regard the conviction as unsafe. The court also rejected complaints about the jury’s deliberation time and the trial judge’s direction to the jury. The teacher had already served his sentence after being convicted in 2017.