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Appeal against conviction for sexual offences is dismissed on all grounds
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Court of Appeal dismisses appeal against conviction for multiple counts of rape and sexual assault of two children, on the grounds, inter alia, that: (a) the criticisms made on behalf of the appellant regarding the admission of DVDs of interviews were without foundation and the trial judge did not err in admitting the DVDs into evidence; (b) matters such as the appellant’s motive in involving himself with the complainants’ family, his behaviour towards the complainants and his interactions with social services were highly relevant background evidence and it was necessary to admit this evidence to enable the jury to consider the entire factual matrix; (c) the mere fact that there are inconsistencies is not an indication that the case ought to be withdrawn from the jury and the areas of inconsistency in this case were matters relevant to issues of reliability and credibility and thus were within the sole province of the jury; and (d) the trial judge approached the issues of delay and corroboration in a careful and appropriate manner.
Appeal against conviction for three counts of rape and 20 counts of sexual assault - two complainants sisters aged 10 and 12 years at the time of the alleged offences in 2010 and 2011 - mother of the complainants had been previously known to social services in UK - appellant invited mother and all four of her children to live with him in Sussex - following concerns, undertakings requested by UK authorities that appellant would not be involved in personal grooming of the elder two girls, such as bathing - instead of giving undertakings, appellant moved the family to Ireland - also brought another single mother and her children over to Ireland and installed them in a separate house - later, the appellant took the children out of the jurisdiction while the mother was in hospital - children subsequently taken into care - appellant moved to Chile which has no extradition treaty with Ireland - later extradited from the United States - whether trial judge erred in admitting certain evidence, including certain DVDs of interviews - whether trial judge erred in refusing to withdraw the case from the jury in its entirety - whether trial judge erred in failing to properly warn the jury in respect of delay and corroboration - whether trial judge erred in charging the jury in respect of evidence given by children - whether trial judge erred in allowing the replaying of certain portions of an interview DVD to the jury - whether trial judge erred in failing to adequately recharge the jury following requisitions - whether trial judge erred in law by failing to give a stronger warning in relation to relevant press coverage.
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