A 76-year-old man jailed for two years for indecent assault was freed yesterday. The man, who had been convicted of the assault on two sisters in the 1960s and 1970s, yesterday had his conviction and sentence overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The court decided that two statements which he allegedly made should not have been admitted in evidence when the case was before Letterkenny Circuit Court last year.
Mr Justice Barron, presiding, said the prosecution still had sufficient evidence for a jury's consideration. But the question that arose was whether justice required that there should be a retrial.
The man had already been subjected to a four-day trial, the judge said. He was now 76 and was in indifferent health. It was 32 and 22 years respectively since the alleged indecent assaults would have taken place.
A question must also arise as to whether all the charges may be heard together.
Having regard to those factors and because the need for a retrial was partly the result of the manner in which the statements were taken, it would be oppressive to order a retrial, Mr Justice Barron said.
The man had been convicted of a total of 11 charges and sentenced to two years on each to run concurrently. The evidence against him consisted of statements by the two sisters and of two inculpatory statements made by him. Although there was a number of grounds of appeal, the main ground related to the admissibility of the statements.