Two young men have launched High Court actions aimed at halting their prosecutions arising out of an alleged incident in which a teenage girl claims she was sexually assaulted by several male schoolmates.
The two males, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claim their criminal trials should be halted on grounds including that there has been an inexcusable delay of over 20 months in prosecuting them.
The delay means they have been denied the opportunity to be tried as minors for offences that allegedly occurred when they were both 15 years of age, they say.
The charges against the two arise out of an incident that occurred in a public park in June 2019. A teenage girl claims about eight teenage boys prevented her from leaving a place she went to to make a phone call.
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It is claimed that at the time of the alleged assault the males were all second-level students who attended the same school as the girl.
The girl claims one of the males told her to perform a sex act on another one of the males present, who, it is alleged, had pulled down his trousers to expose his penis. She tried to leave the area but, she says, she was prevented from doing so by two of the males.
She claims some of the males began touching her and got on top of her. She claims she couldn’t get them off her and agreed to kiss one of the males so they would let her leave the location. The complainant also alleges she was eventually allowed leave when some of her friends arrived on the scene.
A complaint was made to gardaí in early 2020 about the incident. Following a Garda investigation, charges were brought against a number of males allegedly involved. Both of the young men were among a group of males arrested and interviewed in August 2020.
However, the applicants claim they were not charged before the District Court with offences arising out of the girl’s complaint until May 2022.
One of the applicants is accused of touching the complainant under her shirt and over her pants.
He has been charged with sexually assaulting the girl, contrary to the 1990 Criminal Law (Rape Amendment) Act.
The second applicant is alleged to have been one of the males that blocked the girl from leaving the place where the incident occurred.
He is charged with false imprisonment contrary to the 1997 Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
‘Speedy trials’
In their separate High Court judicial review actions against the Director of Public Prosecutions the two males claim they were entitled to a speedy trial, given the alleged offences are said to have occurred when they were both 15 years of age and minors.
It is claimed that because they were both minors when the alleged assault took place, there was an onus on the State authorities to ensure speedy trials.
The 21-month delay between the time of the interview and when they were charged meant there was no prospect of them being tried before their 18th birthdays, they claim.
Both now are over the age of 18 years and are to be tried as adults before the Circuit Criminal Court. They have been prejudiced as a result of the delay, their lawyers claim.
In their judicial review actions, the two applicants seek various declarations and orders from the court, including orders preventing their trials from going ahead. Both seek damages for what they claim are breaches of their constitutional rights to expeditious trials.
The matters both came before Mr Justice Charles Meenan at the High Court on Monday.
The judge granted both applicants permission, on an ex-parte basis (only the applicants were represented), to bring their challenges.
Both cases will be mentioned before the court in a month.