A convicted rapist serving a seven-year sentence is to stand trial on a second charge of raping the victim during the same incident. Ms Miriam Reynolds SC, prosecuting, applied for the trial date after Mr Justice Carney refused to adjourn the second charge to await the out come of the defendant's appeal against conviction and sentence. Ms Reynolds said to proceed to hearing on the outstanding charge at this stage would involve an "unnecessary trial" but Mr Justice Carney said the Director of Public Prosecutions was causing it.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed following his conviction by a jury last year for the rape of a woman in 1995. The jury failed to agree a verdict on the second charge of raping her on the same occasion and this was adjourned to March.
In March, the DPP again sought more time to decide on a course of action. Allowing a one-month adjournment, Mr Justice Carney had said: "I think the director should make his mind up and stop looking over his shoulder."