Man who raped special needs daughter loses court appeal

A FATHER who was jailed for 11 years for the rape of his special needs daughter has lost his appeal against the conviction.

The 59-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his now adult daughter, was jailed after a jury at the Central Criminal Court convicted him in July 2019 of rape and two counts of sexual assault.

The offences occurred on dates between January 2003 and December 2004, and on a separate occasion in January 2011.

During the trial before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon, the court was told the man twice raped his daughter in her bedroom when she was 22 after he asked her if she loved him or her mother more. He also sexually assaulted her on the same occasion.

Previously, he had sexually assaulted her and made her perform oral sex on him when she was 13 or 14 years old and while she was sleeping in the same bed as her friend.

He later appealed the conviction on the grounds the jury were not properly warned about the dangers of using uncorroborated evidence to convict a defendant.

In papers submitted to the Court of Appeal, his lawyers argued that Ms Justice Creedon had failed to give a corroboration warning to the jury regarding evidence given by the complainant’s mother, who said that the defendant had admitted sexually assaulting their daughter.

A corroboration warning can be given by a judge to a jury to highlight the dangers of convicting a defendant on the basis of uncorroborated evidence.

However, in a judgment delivered yesterday by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, the appeal was dismissed.