Childminder jailed for abusing boy, 7, has conviction overturned on appeal

Court of Appeal finds charges should have been withdrawn from the jury after the complainant said in cross examination the abuse did not happen

Martin Begley, 55, was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last October of nine counts of sexual assault and 12 counts of invitation of sexual touching to a child in two locations in Dublin between December 2019 and April 2020.

A childminder who was jailed for five years for repeatedly sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy has had his conviction quashed, with the Court of Appeal finding the charges should have been withdrawn from the jury after the complainant said in cross examination the abuse did not happen.

Martin Begley had never accepted the verdict of the jury and defence lawyers had applied during his trial for the judge to direct an acquittal. In a judgement on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal overturned Mr Begley's conviction for sexually abusing the child between 2019 and 2020.