Former DJ denied appeal on indecent assault convictions

Aodhan O Faolain

Former disc jockey and pirate radio station founder Eamon Cooke has lost in an attempt to secure a fresh appeal against his convictions for indecent assault.

Cooke had sought to have his appeal against his conviction, secured following a retrial at the Central Criminal Court, referred to the Supreme Court on a point of law which he claimed was of exceptional public importance.

Cooke, who is in his late seventies, was found guilty by a jury of 42 counts of indecent assault against two complainants arising from offences that occurred between May 1974 and May 1978. He had denied the charges.

He was given a 10 year prison sentence.

Cooke, the founder of pirate radio station Radio Dublin, had previously been found guilty of multiple offences in respect of the same two complainants in 2003 but his convictions were quashed in 2006 following an appeal.

The points of law that Cooke wanted to have referred to the appeal court, on grounds it allegedly raised a point of law of exceoptional public importance,  related to warnings given by trial judges to juries in cases involviong delay, particularly cases involving allegations of sexual abuse.

The Court of Appeal, comprising Mr Justice John MacMenamin, presiding and sitting with Mr Justice Michael Hanna and Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy, rejected the application on all grounds.