The conviction of a man for raping his then partner's 15-year-old sister and sexually abusing another has been found to be unsafe by the Court of Appeal.
During the trial, the jury had been concerned that they had been photographed, while part of the accused's garda interviews were redacted.
In an application that was refused by the trial judge, lawyers for Stephen Lynch (33) had argued the jury should have been discharged as there had been a perception of intimidation and this had prejudiced the jury against the appellant.
Jurors had complained to their jury minder that a person associated with the defence appeared to be taking photographs of them as they were in the car park outside the court, a concern which was relayed to trial judge, Mr Justice David Keane.
The Court of Appeal heard gardaí retrieved a suspect phone but no photos were found, while the court also heard that a guard was later posted to the car park in question.
Mr Lynch, with an address at Marian Place, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was convicted by a jury following a trial in May 2021 in the Central Criminal Court of one count of rape at his then address of Monksfield, Bealnamulla, Athlone, Co Roscommon, between October 17th and 18th, 2015.
The accused was alleged to have raped his then partner's teenage sister after she came to see his newborn baby.
In July 2021, the Central Criminal Court heard that around two months later, Mr Lynch allegedly sexually assaulted another of his then partner's younger sisters and was also alleged to have attacked this victim's friend.
He was further convicted by the jury on counts of sexual assault and assault causing harm at the same address between December 18th and 19th, 2015.
Mr Lynch had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
'Disquiet'
Eileen O'Leary SC, prosecuting, told the court that the victims wished to waive their anonymity and wanted Mr Lynch to be named.
In delivering the Court of Appeal's judgment, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the matter of the jury minder raising the concern about being photographed had caused the appeal court "disquiet".
She wrote neither the judge nor the legal teams knew precisely what had occurred, nor the impact on the jury.
"When the judge raised a question as to their potential concerns, an indication was given by the jury that the matter had been resolved, but real questions remained outstanding: first, what had actually occurred and second, how had it been resolved," Ms Justice Kennedy said.
She said that when the foreperson indicated to the trial judge that the matter had been resolved, the court was of the view that further queries ought to have been raised.
However, the trial proceeded without the judge or parties being informed as to how the matter had been resolved, the judge said.
"The real concern is that because no inquiry was made, everyone is left in the dark, including this court, requiring us to venture into the speculative realm. This is not desirable," the judge said.
She added that while the deliberations of the jury were "sacrosanct", what occurred was outside the jury room and merited potential inquiry.
Photographs
Ms Justice Kennedy said that while the jury's concern of being possibly photographed may have been insufficient to cast doubt on the fairness of the trial on its own, when viewed in conjunction with the "editing of the appellant's interview", the court had concerns as to the fairness of the trial.
In his interview, Mr Lynch had claimed that the complainant felt she had been drugged by him, but he maintained that his medication would have been too strong for her to be functioning properly in the morning, which he claimed she was.
This portion of his interview was redacted as the prosecution argued that it amounted to "expert opinion", which Mr Lynch was not qualified to give.
"It is clear the excluded portion amounted to a central plank of the appellant's case," Ms Justice Kennedy said.
The judge said the answer given by the appellant was not "opinion in the real sense", adding that this was "an individual offering his own experience of how one might feel or appear in the aftermath of taking the medication".
The judge said that, while the jury issue and the edited memorandum each gave cause for concern, taken individually they would not be sufficient to render the conviction unsafe.
"However, when considered together, and while it is a finely balanced case, given that we have an element of disquiet as to the safety of the conviction, we will quash the conviction and order a retrial," Ms Justice Kennedy said.
Discharged
In his submissions to the Court of Appeal, Michael Bowman SC, for Mr Lynch, argued that the jury in the case should have been discharged after issues arose, including an allegation that the jury had been photographed.
Counsel said the jury alerted the judge to their concern that they had been photographed by a witness in the case upon arrival in the car park.
At the trial, the defence raised an issue regarding its belief the photos complained of by the jury were taken by a man associated with the defence. The defence then unsuccessfully asked the jury to be discharged.
Counsel said gardaí had taken the phone off the witness and found no photos, but Mr Bowman said the Garda action was "not done when there are no concerns".
In her submissions Ms O'Leary SC, for the State, said the judge asked the jury to raise the issue if there was one and was told the matter was resolved by moving them to a different car park.
"He specifically asked if they had concerns. The matter was resolved. A guard was posted in the car park from then on. Nobody indicated anything else occurred," Ms O'Leary said.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
