Three in court over Clare rape

Three teenagers who raped a woman last Janury have been remanded in custody for sentence after pleading guilty at the Central Criminal Court .

They pleaded guilty to raping the girl in east Clare on January 23, 2004.

Mr Justice Paul Carney set July 30 as the sentence date and directed that their names be added to the register of sex offenders. He also directed the preparation of victim impact and other reports for the sentence hearing.

Mr Justice Carney made an interim order prohibiting the naming in the media of the defendants and said his order remained in force at this stage until sentence date.

He later announced he would hear submissions before sentence date from media publishers on the question of whether or not the defendants can be named.

Mr John Edwards SC, for one of the youths, had told Mr Justice Carney that as a result of what he called "a lacuna" in the current legislation, the Childrens’ Act 2001, the only court designated was the District Court and therefore also the Childrens’ Court.

Mr Edwards said it didn’t apply to the higher criminal courts but he asked that the court should make such an order. Counsel for the two other defendants supported Mr Edwards.