Husband withdraws marital rape appeal after warning from court

A man imprisoned for two counts of anal rape against his wife has withdrawn his appeal against his nine-year sentence following guidance from the Court of Appeal regarding recent Supreme Court precedent on marital rape. The 41-year-old, whose identity is protected to safeguard his wife's privacy, was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of the offences committed at their County Mayo home on 18 December 2015. He was acquitted on four additional rape charges relating to earlier occasions in 2015. Before the sentence appeal hearing commenced, Court of Appeal President Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Justices Patrick McCarthy and Isobel Kennedy, drew the appellant's attention to a 2018 Supreme Court judgment. That case concerned a sentence reduction for spousal rape which the Supreme Court subsequently reversed, finding that the lower court had erred by examining the offence in isolation rather than within the broader context of violent and abusive conduct. Following consultation with counsel, the appellant elected to withdraw his appeal, an application the court granted.