Bail granted to Laois brothers convicted of hotel room rape

Two Laois brothers have been granted bail pending an appeal against their conviction and three year sentence for raping a woman in a hotel room.

Eamonn Flanagan (aged 40) of Dunamaise, Stradbally and Seamus Flanagan (aged 33) of Ashley Gardens, Portlaoise were jailed for three years by Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan last month after a Central Criminal Court jury convicted them of raping a woman in a room at the Red Cow Hotel in Dublin on March 3, 2008.

Seamus had pleaded not guilty to the anal and vaginal rape of the woman at the hotel, Eamonn pleaded not guilty to vaginal rape of the woman during the same incident.

Counsel for Eamonn Flanagan, Mr Kenneth Fogarty SC, today told the appeal court that after the brothers were convicted, a key prosecution witness claimed he was pressurised by gardaí to say he saw the men at the door of the room where the rape occurred.

The witness, Mr Daniel Lynch, was a friend of the accused men and had consensual sex with the woman shortly before the brothers were accused of raping her. No DNA from the brothers was found on the woman and CCTV footage showed the rapes occurred during a two-minute window.

Mr Lynch claimed that during the investigation he was put under pressure by gardaí to make a statement saying the brothers were at the hotel room door when he was leaving. He said this happened in a garda car, parked at a petrol station in Laois.

Counsel for the State, Ms Orla Crowe BL, argued that the two applicants had been convicted by a jury and had failed to show there was a substantial chance that the proceedings of the trial would be found unsafe.

Presiding judge Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman said that the court could not reach any determination on what occurred between Mr Lynch and gardai and did not currently have to decide on the matter.

However, he said that the evidence of Mr Lynch could be critical, particularly in the absence of other “more obviously” corroborative evidence, and that it might play a role in determining whether the evidence that went before the jury was safe or satisfactory.

Mr Justice Hardiman, sitting with Mr Justice Michael Hanna and Mr Justice Michael White said the court had determined that there was a “strong chance” that Mr Lynch’s evidence would be significant in this regard and the court would accordingly accede to the application for bail made on behalf of both men.