The man (55) has sexual assault conviction quashed

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

The man (55), who cannot be named for legal reasons, had his sexual assault conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal on 22 May 2023. The court was presided over by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and ordered a retrial.

He had pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape, one sexual assault count and one count of attempted rape. The proceedings were reported on 22 May 2023.

He was tried before a jury at the Central Criminal Court in April 2021 and found guilty. At a July 2021 sentence hearing, Mr Justice Alex Owens imposed six years, suspended the final six months on conditions that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour, and imposed four years of post-release supervision.

The Court of Appeal remanded him in custody until June 7th, with consent to bail, and ordered that a retrial take place. The report said the new evidence concerned phone searches relevant to the complainant's credibility; the judge said the searches did not directly point to sexual intercourse but could have affected the trial outcome.