Unnamed man loses appeal against rape conviction

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

The Court of Appeal dismissed an unnamed man’s appeal against his rape conviction on 25 May 2023. The proceedings were reported on 25 May 2023.

He had pleaded not guilty to 16 sample charges of anal rape of his then-wife at a location in Co Tipperary between 2003 and 2007. He pleaded guilty at the same court to eight sample counts of indecently assaulting his younger sister and three counts of raping her at their family home between 1978 and 1987.

A jury found him guilty of the rapes of his wife. In March 2020, Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced him at the Central Criminal Court to 13 years’ imprisonment: seven years for the offences against his sister and six years for those against his ex-wife. The sentences were consecutive, with no portion suspended.

At the appeal hearing, Michael Delaney SC, for the appellant, objected to a screen used while the woman gave evidence and to the admission of evidence about earlier alleged assaults. He argued that the screen could reinforce a view that his client was violent and that the assault evidence was highly prejudicial.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the trial judge had an evidential basis from gardaí for allowing the screen and had balanced the competing interests. She said the background evidence was more probative than prejudicial and was necessary to show the nature of the relationship. The trial judge had warned the jury that it could not use that evidence to infer guilt. The court was not persuaded to intervene on either ground.