A MAN has lost his appeal against his conviction for sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.
The man, who was 41 at the time of the offence, was convicted of sexual assault on July 17th, 2004. A six-year sentence was imposed, with the last two years suspended.
The Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday dismissed his appeal against conviction and concluded the trial judge was correct in his charging of the jury in the case.
Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha SC, for the man, said the judgment would be considered for the purposes of whether to seek a certificate of appeal to the Supreme Court.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of several men who had charges of unlawful carnal knowledge against them dropped after a Supreme Court decision in 2006 that legislation governing unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 15 was unconstitutional.
The man was recharged with sexual assault, which he denied. Judge Desmond Hogan imposed sentence last October after the man was found guilty in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court following a seven day trial.
In his appeal against conviction, the man claimed there was no evidence he knew the girl was under 15. Mr Ó Lideadha argued that without such evidence, a properly directed jury could not make a legitimate inference the man knew the teenager was under 15 and thus could not return a safe verdict.
He said that the case should have been “thrown out” at the direction stage and the trial judge failed to properly direct the jury on the “crucial matters” in the case.