A 43-year-old man has been remanded in custody for sentencing in October after being convicted of raping his young brother-in-law.
After almost six hours' deliberation on Saturday, the jury of six women and six men found the lather of two guilty of two charges of buggering the now 14-year-old Co Cork boy on dates between 1991 and 1993. He was found not guilty of a further charge of buggering the boy on a date unknown between 1989 and 1991.
The trial at the Central Criminal Court lasted five days. The jury, which spent Friday night in a hotel, reached unanimous verdicts on all the charges.
Mr Justice Flood expressed his "particular and sincerest gratitude" to the jury members for their careful consideration of the case. They had given up their Friday night and part of Saturday in performing a most important task on behalf of their fellow citizens he said.
He directed the preparation of probation and victims impact reports for the sentence hearing which he fixed for October 29th. He also directed that the defendant be given the same medical treatment in custody as he was getting from his own doctor.
The victim told the jury he often went to the defendant's home to play with a computer. He said that on about 10 occasions his brother-in-law came up behind him, lifted him up and raped him. He had been too shy and embarrassed to tell anyone about this until he spoke to a cousin some time after July 1993.
He denied a suggestion by Mr Blaise O'Carroll, defending, that his claims were "a concoction and totally untrue". The defendant also gave evidence denying the allegations and claimed the boy was "telling lies from the start".
Cross-examined by Mr Maurice Gaffney, prosecuting, he said the rape allegations were "utter rubbish" and the boy had got "plenty of help with them".