Young man fails to halt trial on rape charge

The High Court has cleared the way for a trial of a young man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl to proceed.

The man, who cannot be identified, had sought an order preventing his prosecution on grounds of delay both in the investigation into the allegations and in the initiation of his prosecution before the Central Criminal Court.

He claimed the delay meant he was not brought to trial before his 18th birthday with the effect he lost a number of protections under the 2001 Children’s Act.

It is alleged the alleged rape occurred shortly before the applicant turned 17 and when the complainant was aged 16.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Max Barrett refused to prohibit the trial after finding no culpable delay in the investigation or in the decision to prosecute the applicant.

The applicant’s lawyers had claimed the investigation into the complaint initially progressed in a timely fashion after the complaint was made to the Garda.

However, they alleged a culpable delay of 10 months in the advancement of the investigation up to the point in 2017 when the applicant marked his 18th birthday.

If there was any delay in the matter, it could be limited to a number of months “that could be counted on one hand”, the judge said.

Given all the circumstances surrounding the allegation, the criminal justice system could not have investigated the matter before the applicant turned 18, he ruled.