A man found guilty of abusing his daughter has had his conviction quashed over a factual error in his barrister’s closing speech to the jury, which was not permitted to be corrected by the trial judge.
The man, whose details cannot be published to protect the victim's identity, pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting his daughter in the south-east in January 2015.
He was found guilty by a jury at Waterford Circuit Criminal Court and sentenced to three years imprisonment with the final year suspended in December 2016.
The Court of Appeal quashed the man’s conviction holding that the trial judge should have permitted the man’s barrister to reopen her closing speech to the jury, after she had made a factual error on the evidence.
The court will hear arguments on whether a retrial will be appropriate at a later date.
