Munster rape trial: Children's abuse 'could not have happened under constant scrutiny'

Counsel told the jury it was almost like “a police helicopter was hanging over the house, where everything was illuminated”

The jury at the Central Criminal Court trial, heard in the defence closing speech that the abuse as alleged occurred while the family were under the care of a level of professional involvement which had been described in the trial as “tremendous and monumental” and that the parents were under “intense and constant scrutiny”. File photo

It has been suggested to a jury that the sexual abuse alleged by three children against members of their family could not have happened because of “the constant scrutiny” of State agencies.

Dean Kelly SC, defending the children's mother, told the jury in his closing speech at the Central Criminal Court trial, that the abuse as alleged occurred while the family were under the care of a level of professional involvement which had been described in the trial as “tremendous and monumental” and that the parents were under “intense and constant scrutiny”.