Vow to address disabled assault victim loophole

THE Government has vowed to examine a legal loophole which fails to support disabled victims of sex offences in court and which is liable to land it before the European Court of Justice.

Justice Minister Brian Lenihan told opposition TDs yesterday he was examining the implications of a recent decision in the Dublin Circuit Court. In the district court, a case was thrown out after the disabled victim of an alleged sexual assault, failed a competency test ahead of giving evidence against the accused.

Laura Kelly from Ballybunion, who has Down syndrome, took the stand two weeks ago to give evidence about the incident which allegedly happened in February 2006.

On the night in question, her family held a house party for one of her siblings. The family claim that shortly after Laura was put to bed with the help of her sister, a family member entered the room and saw a man in the bed with her. Laura, it emerged, had most of her clothes removed and the man was naked from the waist down.

The family member demanded the man leave the house and when she told her family the next day, the matter was reported to gardaí. Laura was later taken to the sexual assault unit of the Rotunda Hospital.

When the matter was brought to court, under the 1992 Criminal Evidence Act, Laura gave evidence of the same standard as someone without special needs. Although the law makes it an offence to have sexual intercourse with a mentally impaired person, it is not specific about any other form of sexual offence against a person with special needs.

Laura failed a competency test and even though her sister verified seeing the man in the bed with her, the case was thrown out.

While Laura was happy about giving evidence and believed she was safe from the man involved, her family are determined to see the loophole overturned. They believe the loophole fails to protect so many categories of disabled people.

Fine Gael’s Jimmy Deenihan and Sinn Féin’s Martin Ferris had both requested in the Dáil that Mr Lenihan amend the act to fully protect an adult with an intellectual disability.

In his written response yesterday, the justice minister said: “I am examining the implications of a recent decision in the Dublin Circuit Court to ascertain whether any legislative change is required.”

Mr Deenihan said he hoped to arrange a meeting with the minister within the next two weeks to discuss the implications of the court decision. Meanwhile, Laura’s parents Noel and Ann are in the process of taking the case to the High Court.