Courts / Ireland / Report
Rapist fails in bid to overturn conviction
Summary
A 38‑year‑old Pakistani man, father of three, was convicted of raping a woman in the back of his car on a beach date. He was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended, after a jury found him guilty of rape but not of sexual assault. He appealed, arguing that the trial judge had allowed a friend of the complainant and a Garda to give evidence of what the complainant had told them the night after the rape, claiming this was hearsay. The Court of Appeal dismissed all grounds of appeal. The judge noted that the two accounts differed only in detail, not in substance, and that the evidence was sufficient for a guilty verdict. The appeal was rejected, leaving the original conviction and sentence in place. The case was heard in the Central Criminal Court in 2019, with the appeal decided in December 2020. The unnamed 38-year-old pleaded not guilty.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Rapist fails in bid to overturn conviction. Charges or matters: raping and sexually assaulting the woman on October 29, 2015. Procedural stage: appeal. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- May 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 29, 2015 Incident
- 2020-12-22 Publication
Why: A previous trial collapsed in July of 2018 as a result of the jury being discharged after a black juror asked the judge to be excused from the panel because he said he felt uncomfortable around his fellow jurors. CNI source report
Case subjects
Appellant
Charges: raping and sexually assaulting the woman on October 29, 2015 (Proven)
Plea: Not guilty
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; The 38-year-old, who cannot be named to protect his victim's identity, was jailed for six and a half years for raping the woman in the back of his car. Ms Justice Tara Burns sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment but suspended the final 18 months of the sentence.
Places mentioned
- Court of Appeal
- Central Criminal Court
Topics
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