Jackson borrowed from dad to pay for rape trial
Rugby stars fail in bid to recover legal costs for 10-week court case
PADDY Jackson borrowed from his father’s retirement money to fund his defence in the rugby rape trial earlier this year, a court heard yesterday.
It was revealed as an application by Paddy Jackson (left) and Stuart Olding (right) to recover legal costs was dismissed in court. They were unanimously acquitted of raping a student in June 2016.
AN APPLICATION made on behalf of rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding to recover legal costs incurred during their lengthy rape case was dismissed in court yesterday.
Judge Patricia Smyth — who presided over the trial at Belfast Crown Court earlier this year — was asked to consider defence applications on behalf of both men, requesting their legal costs be reimbursed by the Public Prosecution Services.
Both Mr Jackson and Mr Olding were unanimously acquitted by a jury in March of raping a student in Mr Jackson’s south Belfast home in June 2016.
Neither man was in court for Friday’s ruling, but present in the public gallery were Mr Jackson’s parents.
While Mr Jackson funded his own legal costs throughout the 10-week trial, Mr Olding financed his own defence up until February 19, when an application for legal aid was made and granted. In the aftermath of the trial, the IRFU terminated the pair’s contracts with both the Irish team and Ulster Rugby. Both men subsequently secured deals with teams in France.
Barristers for the pair each launched applications to recoup their client’s legal fees from the PPS’s purse.
Among the submissions made, their barristers argued that both men had suffered huge financial loss and damage to their reputations as a result of the trial, and both had to move away to pursue their careers.
During today’s ruling at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Smyth pointed out there were no guideline cases in either the UK or Ireland with which to compare this application.
The trial judge also said she had taken into account the “special facts and circumstances” of the case.
Judge Smyth said: “This was a complex police investigation and the prosecution was warranted, albeit the jury did not consider that the charges had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence bore the characteristics of a Rubik cube, capable of bearing myriad conclusions, depending on the jury’s view of the evidence. But those were conclusions for the jury to reach, and not the prosecution.
“Having considered all of the relevant factors, I am satisfied that there is no basis for exercising my discretion in the applicants’ favour. The applications are therefore dismissed.”
It emerged during yesterday’s ruling that as part of the application made on behalf of Mr Jackson, the court was provided with information from both Paddy and his father Peter setting out what they paid in legal costs.
The court heard Mr Jackson paid his mortgage off and had savings but had to draw on his mortgage and borrow from his father’s retirement money to fund his defence.
In her ruling, Judge Smyth said Mr Jackson’s father “was not required to contribute his retirement monies”.
The judge also revealed: “Mr Jackson has declined the opportunity to provide evidence regarding his current financial situation, including the extent to which he has repaid the debt to his father.”