Unnamed man’s rape conviction appeal dismissed

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

The Court of Appeal dismissed the unnamed man’s appeal against his rape conviction on 15 February 2024.

He had been convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his partner’s seven-year-old son in the shower at the boy’s home.

At sentencing in October 2022, the Central Criminal Court imposed an eight-year prison term for rape and a concurrent three-year-and-six-month term for sexual assault.

The man argued that incorrect information given to the child before his initial complaint risked influencing it and the later interview.

The appeal judges found that the information did not make the trial unfair enough to justify stopping it.