The founder and owner of Radio Dublin, the longest-running pirate radio station in Ireland, has been found guilty in the Central Criminal Court of sexually assaulting four girls in his home.
Eamonn "Captain" Cooke (66), with addresses at Heatherview Avenue, Tallaght, and Wheatfields Court, Clondalkin, will be sentenced later by Mr Justice Quirke, who said he "hadn't the slightest doubt that the verdicts brought in are the correct verdicts".
Mr Justice Quirke remanded Cooke in custody for mention of the case on February 12th when a sentence date may be set.
The jury took just under two hours to return unanimous guilty verdicts on 32 charges of the 33 before them, and a further 40 minutes to find him guilty of the final charge.
Cooke was convicted on one charge each of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge and attempted rape of two girls, and a further 31 charges of indecent assault involving them and two other girls, on dates from May 1974 to January 1989.
All of the girls were under 15 at the time and some were as young as six when the abuse began. The jury of nine men and three women delivered its verdicts after a 15-day trial.
The court had heard that Cooke's house had been a "free-for-all" for all the young children in the neighbourhood.
Children would play in his garage and the sexual abuse began gradually. The girls said they had been unaware at the time of what was happening or that it was wrong. As the abuse had begun gradually, and they had been made to feel comfortable around him, they did not complain, and would accept the money and sweets he gave them.
Two of the complainants are sisters but told the jury they did not go to Cooke's house at the same time. The younger sister went first when she met Cooke's son but stopped soon after her sister started visiting the house as she had become afraid of the man.
The older sister said Cooke took her to the Savoy cinema with a group of other children and began kissing her in the cinema. They were taken outside by an usherette after another customer had reported wrongdoings.
She said she told the usherette that Cooke was her uncle and said he had been furious and had got into an argument with the woman.
The court heard Cooke sent flowers, a card and a ring on Valentine's Day to one of the girls after she had stopped coming to his house.