Sexual Offences

A judge in the Court of Appeal has said it "beggars belief" that a woman would falsely claim to have been raped and sexually assaulted 15 times in order to claim victim compensation, as her appeal against conviction was rejected. Jemma Beale, 27, was described as a "serial liar" who in part made up

Sexual offences rose by 10 per cent last year, new figures show. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said the increase came at a time of "significant public focus on sexual assault” with the #MeToo movement.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has welcomed new figures showing a rise in recorded fraud offences as evidence of the success of the Government's anti-fraud strategy. Mr Flanagan today welcomed the publication of the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) crime statistics for 2018, which continue to be

A 29-year-old man who was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for defilement of a child under 17 has lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence. The man had met a 14-year-old girl on social media in 2015, and although her profile stated that she was 20 years old, he realised that she was

Ireland has officially ratified the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence this effect from today. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan announced the ratification following a special Government meeting held to mark International Women's Day 2019.

A judge of the High Court has challenged the Director of Public Prosecutions to take steps to address the "last minute" disclosure of records for upcoming rape and murder trials. Speaking in the Central Criminal Court during management of the trial list on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott criticise

Rape prosecutions have declined to their lowest rate in more than five years, The Guardian reports. Figures reveal that a third of the 2,310 rape cases referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) between April and September of last year saw charges brought.

The prosecution of a schoolboy who took covert upskirt photos of two teachers has highlighted the inadequacy of Northern Ireland's sexual harassment laws, a trade union has said. The teenager, who took five pictures of two woman teachers at Enniskillen Royal Grammar School in 2015 and 2016, has been

The Department of Justice has published a consultation which includes proposed measures to strengthen the law to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse. The consultation invites views on current laws which protect children from sexual exploitation and proposed measures to strengthen som

A bill to introduce stricter penalties for repeat sexual offenders has cleared both stages in the Oireachtas. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018 introduces presumptive minimum sentences for repeat sex offenders and also corrects an anomaly in the law of incest by equalising the

The Victim Support at Court (V-SAC) charity has seen a 37 per cent increase in demand for its court accompaniment services in the last two years, the Irish Examiner reports. The latest figures from the charity reveal that it provided accompaniment services to 1,365 complainants, witnesses and family

A man who sought to undermine the credibility of a schoolgirl he sexually abused by introducing text messages she exchanged with a 13-year-old boy as evidence has lost an appeal against his conviction. The 54-year-old Tipperary man, whose details cannot be published to protect the victim's identity,

A man who was convicted of sexually assaulting his two-year-old son while the child’s mother was at work has lost an appeal against his conviction. Finding that the trial judge had correctly admitted hearsay evidence in the interests of justice, Lord Justice Ben Stephens also dismissed the app

Dublin employment lawyer Richard Grogan has called for a review in Ireland of the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in sexual harassment cases, The Times reports. Last year, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a UK review of the "unethical" use of NDAs by employers in settlements with women a

The Director of Public Prosecutions has launched proceedings for contempt against the Irish Independent following the collapse of a rape trial late last year. The proceedings against publisher Independent News & Media, Irish Independent editor Fionnán Sheehan and journalist Nicola Anderso