Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin.(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
A teenager accused of raping a girl when he was 15 has failed in a High Court challenge seeking to stop his trial because of stress caused to him as an Asperger’s and ADHD sufferer by a two-year delay in charging him.
The alleged victim was also 15 at the time and she made a complaint straight afterwards. He was told of this by a relative and he told his mother who brought him to a Garda station.
Gardai conducted an investigation and interviews and he was also later found unsuitable to be dealt with under the juvenile liaison scheme, which is aimed at preventing minors from having to enter the criminal justice system.
He was charged in December 2024 and a trial date in the Central Criminal Court was set for June 2025 – some three years since the alleged offence. In the meantime, he had brought a High Court challenge seeking to stop it.
The DPP opposed the challenge. In October, the High Court found that while there had been blameworthy prosecutorial delay, in carrying out a balancing exercise, it found the public interest in prosecuting this offence was very strong indeed, and not just for the alleged victim in this case.
The High Court judge also pointed out he would still retain his anonymity and will have the benefit of the provisions regarding the sentencing of children should he be convicted. While he has vulnerabilities that make a trial difficult for him, he had not established that they were caused, or exacerbated, significantly by the delay, the High Court also said.
He appealed and the DPP opposed the appeal. In a judgment on behalf of the three-judge Court of Appeal (CoA), Mr Justice Charles Meenan also rejected the challenge.
Mr Justice Meenan said the central pillar of the appeal was that the High Court ought to have put into the balance in its decision the effect of the allegation having been against him as well as the effect on him of the delay in the prosecution.
The High Court had carried out the correct balancing exercise and the CoA was in full agreement with the conclusions reached by the High Court, he said in dismissing the appeal.
