A GALWAY man who was due to be sentenced by the Central Criminal Court for raping a 16 year old girl on August 23rd, 1993, has been allowed to have a trial by jury.
The 31 year old man was refused permission on September 26th to vacate a guilty plea he made to the charge last July after it was claimed he pleaded guilty on two occasions.
Mr Justice Carney said when he made his order refusing the application, it was after being told the accused man made two judicial confessions in open court, which had been crucial to his determination. It appeared he had been inadvertently misled and there had only been one guilty plea. He had relied entirely on what he had been told when he directed that the case proceed to sentence.
Mr Justice Carney said there was an unacceptable risk in proceeding on the plea made by the accused. He had to set it aside and fix a date for trial. He did that with great reluctance because he was concerned for the victim.
She had been told twice she would not have to give evidence and the Supreme Court had called attention to the consequences for accused and victims from pleas of guilty. However, if he continued to hold him to his plea, it might be set aside by another court and the alleged victim might have to give evidence not just in some months but in years, said Mr Justice Carney.
Earlier, Mr Patrick MacEntee SC said he had been instructed by the accused man that when he pleaded guilty in July, he was under pressure of believing he would be left without legal representation otherwise. He had not wished to plead guilty.
Mr MacEntee said a report of a brain scan on the accused man had only become available in the last few days and he needed to study it to ascertain if his client was capable of pleading.
Mr Joseph Mathews SC, prosecuting, said that on July 15th, then defence counsel, Mr Rex Mackey SC, said he "guaranteed" that a jury would not be required. The case was adjourned for mention the next day and then for arraignment on July 24th when the guilty plea was entered.
Mr Mathews said he accepted the court had been inadvertently misled about the question of the guilty plea being entered twice.
At the September 26th hearing, Mr Justice Carney allowed Mr Mackey to withdraw from the case because the accused man wanted to change his plea. He was "begging for a trial to prove his innocence" and alleged pressure had been put on him to plead guilty.