Courts / Dublin / Report
'How could this court direct this child be subjected to further trauma'
Summary
In a Court of Appeal hearing, an expert on female genital mutilation questioned the evidence used to convict a husband and wife who were jailed for performing the procedure on their daughter. The couple, appealing their conviction, seek a re‑examination of the child to determine whether she was actually subjected to FGM. Professor Birgitta Essen reviewed videos of the 2016 and 2019 procedures and reported that the evidence strongly indicated no mutilation, but a physical examination was needed to confirm this. The prosecution's experts disagree with Professor Essen and argue the report should not be admitted. The court also considered a paediatrician's 2020 attempt to re‑examine the child, which was halted due to the child's distress. The appeal is scheduled for next October, and the court has reserved judgment. The couple were originally convicted in 2019 and sentenced in 2020 to five and a half years and four years nine months respectively. The child's identity is protected. The unnamed appellant pleaded not guilty.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: 'How could this court direct this child be subjected to further trauma'. Charges or matters: one count of carrying out an act of FGM on their then one-year-old daughter at an address in Dublin on September 16, 2016; one count of child cruelty on the same day. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- November 2019 Hearing Or Sentence
- September 16, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2016 and 2019 Other
- 2021-03-25 Publication
Why: " He said a re-examination is in the child's interest, "because we say they have been wrongly convicted, wrongly separated from their child, and an expert has indicated that a physical examination could resolve the matter. CNI source report
Case subjects
Appellant
Charges: one count of carrying out an act of FGM on their then one-year-old daughter at an address in Dublin on September 16, 2016; one count of child cruelty on the same day (Alleged Or Contested)
Plea: Not guilty
Outcome: An expert on female genital mutilation (FGM) has questioned the evidence used to convict a husband and wife who were jailed for carrying out the procedure on their daughter, the Court of Appeal has heard. Passing sentence in January 2020, Judge Elma Sheahan sentenced the man to five and a half years imprisonment and the woman to four years and nine months imprisonment.
Places mentioned
- Court of Appeal
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Academic Hospital
Topics
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