More court reports in brief.
Court sets aside rape conviction
The Court of Criminal Appeal has overturned the conviction and seven-year prison sentence of an apprentice carpenter for the rape of a female student in Waterford city.
A retrial has been ordered in the case of Wayne Drought.
Mr Drought (22) of Churchtown, The Hook, Co Wexford, was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in March last of raping a female student on December 9th, 2004, in Waterford city centre.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton imposed a sentence of seven years with the final 18 months suspended.
Mr Drought had denied the charge and claimed only consensual sex occurred.
In setting aside the conviction yesterday, the three judge court of Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns presiding, sitting with Mr Justice Paul Gilligan and Mr Justice Kevin Feeney, agreed that the nature of the trial judge's charge to the jury was such as to render the conviction unsafe.
Counsel for Mr Drought, John O'Kelly SC, had argued that the trial judge had effectively undermined the defence case during his summing up.
In regards to the retrial, the State entered a Nolle Prosequi.
Jury in rape trial sent to hotel
The jury in the trial at the Central Criminal Court of a Limerick man charged with sexually molesting and raping a young girl has been sent to a hotel overnight.
Mr Justice John Edwards sent the jury away after it had been deliberating for over two hours without reaching a verdict on day five of the hearing.
The 60-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to 42 charges - 12 of rape and 30 of sexual assault of the complainant on dates from 1998 to 2005 in Limerick.
Mr Justice Edwards directed the jury to return a not guilty verdict on one of the sexual assault charges.
Leisure centre voyeurism case
A senior member of Derry City Council's recreation and leisure staff was yesterday found guilty of peeping through a keyhole at a naked woman drying herself in front of a mirror in the council-owned Templemore Sports Complex.
Martin Carlin, (57), from Ballyarnett village, had denied committing the offence of voyeurism for the purposes of sexual gratification in Templemore Sports Complex last August 24th when he was duty manager of the leisure centre.
However, a jury of six men and six women found him guilty by a majority 10-2 verdict after almost four hours of deliberation.
Judge Desmond Marrinan told the jurors at Derry Crown Court that he agreed with their verdict.
The woman, who was spied upon by Carlin through the keyhole of a storeroom which connected a male and female changing area, wept when the guilty verdict was announced. Carlin was released on bail and will be sentenced on September 10th following the preparation of a report.