Councillor convicted of sexually assaulting teen quits

DISGRACED councillor Brian Duffin has resigned from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council after losing his appeal against a conviction for sexual assault on a young woman.

His resignation was confirmed in a statement by the council yesterday.

Duffin, a former SDLP councillor and now an independent, was handed a four-month jail term in August, when he was initially tried for the offence.

A father of 11 and grandfather of 19, Duffin, from Cargin Road in Toomebridge, appealed against both the conviction and the sentences, but at Coleraine Crown Court this week he lost his appeal against his conviction for sexual assault.

Giving evidence against Duffin, the 17-year-old victim described how he stuck his tongue into her mouth when he kissed her, had one hand on her breast and the other on her inner thigh during the sexual assault in June 2016.

During cross-examination during the appeal — the second time the teenager had to relive the assault in court — Duffin’s victim said she had tried to block out the attack as the sexual assault was “something I don’t want to remember”.

The court service said yesterday that, following 74-year-old Duffin’s failed appeal, the court was now awaiting an ‘addendum to the pre-sentence report’ which is to be completed by February 1 next year.

The report will address his ‘progress on probation’.

Although convicted, Duffin’s appeal against his sentence continues.

Duffin has been already placed in the Sex Offenders’ Register by the court, where his name will remain until 2023.

He remains on bail pending the outcome of his sentence appeal.

Failed appeal: Brian Duffin