A HIGH Court judge has dismissed as “an abuse of court process” and “without merit” the latest challenges to his detention by convicted rapist Stephen “Rossi” Walsh.
Mr Justice Brian McGovern also strongly criticised the Dublin criminal for “swamping” the courts, already under a heavy workload of “genuine claims”, with his “frivolous and vexatious claims”.
The judge made the remarks yesterday in a ruling dismissing a series of claims by Walsh who was jailed earlier this year for what another judge described as one of the “most repulsive” sex offences ever encountered at the Central Criminal Court.
Walsh had made a series of complaints that various court hearings involving him were conducted unlawfully and criticised the handling by the High Court and Supreme Court of various applications brought by him since 2008.
He claimed the courts had failed to have regard to the Constitution and European Court of Human Rights in how they dealt with his complaints.
Rejecting his claims, the judge ruled that Walsh is in lawful custody having been “duly convicted of a serious criminal offence, namely rape”.
His proceedings were an abuse of court process and without merit, the judge said.
Last February, Mr Justice Paul Carney jailed Walsh (62) of Belgrave Road, Rathgar, for 10 years for raping a nine-year-old girl in the early 1990s and certified him as a sex offender. The judge also imposed seven years of post-release supervision and warned Walsh he could be jailed again if he failed to abide by its terms.
Walsh had refused to indicate which way he was pleading to the two counts of rape and one count of oral rape and pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf in those circumstances. He was convicted.
Walsh’s victim Ruth Dunne, now in her mid-20s, waived her right to anonymity and said she was pleased “justice has been done” and Walsh had been “exposed to the public for what he really is”.
Walsh has 10 previous convictions, including one for arson, for which he was sentenced to 15 years at the Special Criminal Court in 1993.
