Fraught scenes in court after man found not guilty of sexually assaulting his granddaughter

Complainant had previously lied that her father sexually abused her, court heard

Thu, 04 May, 2023 - 22:35

A 66-year-old man accused of 18 counts of sexually assaulting his granddaughter was found not guilty by a jury where the defence claimed they had to have a reasonable doubt as she previously lied that her father sexually abused her.

The nine men and three women of the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court returned with a unanimous verdict of not guilty on each charge. Judge Helen Boyle thanked the jury and told the accused he was free to go.

After the judge and jury had gone from the courtroom, there was a fraught scene in the body of the court as the complainant wept and her mother confronted the defendant and shouted at him that he would rot in hell.

The parties cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Prosecution barrister Imelda Kelly told the jury the alleged sexual assaults occurred between March 2012 and March 2016 when the girl was aged from seven to 10 years.

Originally, there were 19 charges but Judge Helen Boyle directed the jury to find the accused not guilty on the 19th count because of an inconsistency between the dates given for the alleged offence and that specified on the charge. They had to consider their verdicts on 18 charges.

Ms Kelly said: “What I suggest is that she gives a very clear description of what happened. The question of consent does not arise as she was a child.

“She has very clearly indicated that on numerous occasions these things happened almost every weekend when she went up to her grandmother’s house. She alleged this was a very regular occurrence.

“She said it often happened when she and her grandfather were alone in the sitting room, sometimes when her mother and grandmother had gone out to bingo or when they [her mother and grandmother] were gone to bed.

“She said it consisted of touching her chest, removing her lower clothing and touching what she described as her ‘bum’.”

Ms Kelly said the complainant did not have the terms at the time but that she later clarified she was referring to her vagina.

That latter description related to the first 16 counts and two further counts related to the defendant allegedly getting her to touch his penis.

Ms Kelly said to the jury: “It is not lost on any of you that she originally blamed her father but [she later said] she was told by her grandfather to blame her father.

"In her own phrase she said, ‘I was brainwashed to say it was my dad’.”

Ray Boland, defence senior counsel, told the jury the defendant was 66 years old and had no previous convictions and if the allegations were true he was doing these things from the age of 56 to the age of 60.

“He brought up his family with no hint of allegations in relation to his own children or other grandchildren. But once the allegation is made, how do you defend yourself?” Mr Boland asked.

He said apart from saying it did not happen, the defence was left to challenge the defence and find areas of reasonable doubt.

“She told us she previously lied that her father sexually assaulted her. That must cause you doubt. If you convict you must do it on the basis of someone who made a false allegation of sexual abuse against her own father.

“[The complainant] is someone who — on any view of the evidence — made a false allegation of child sexual abuse, so you cannot rely on her to convict [her grandfather],” Mr Boland said.