More than 50 rape and murder trials have already been scheduled for next year. Mr Justice Morris assigned trial dates in the Central Criminal Court yesterday to 11 rape and four murder cases for the period January to July 1998. He also issued a bench warrant for a North African man who is charged with rape in Dublin. The court was told that the accused man was on bail, but had not been seen since July 3rd, when he last signed on in a Garda station.
In October 46 murder and rape cases were listed for trial on dates up to the middle of May 1998. Another 10 trials are due to be heard this December. It is expected that further trial dates for 1998 will be fixed at the next court listing session on December 17th.