THE COURT of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a man against his conviction for attempted rape of a teenage girl whom he met at a Christmas Eve disco in Killarney in 2004.
James Cronin (25) Freemount, Rathmore, Co Kerry, was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in December 2006 of attempted rape. He was also convicted of assault with intent to commit rape but was acquitted on a charge of threatening to kill the girl.
Cronin had raped a woman after another disco just months earlier and is serving a total sentence of 15 years for both offences.
He denied attempted rape and claimed the victim had “changed her mind” after asking him if he had a condom while they were “kissing and cuddling”.
Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins had ordered that the seven-year sentence should run consecutively to an eight-year sentence imposed earlier in 2006 for kidnapping and raping a 27-year-old woman, whom he also met outside a Killarney disco, in October 2004.
The three-judge Court of Criminal Appeal, with Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding, sitting with Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne and Mr Justice Bryan McMahon, yesterday rejected Cronin’s appeal against his conviction. His appeal against sentence was adjourned.
Earlier, Pádraig Dwyer SC said his client was interviewed by gardaí following his arrest in early January 2005 before he had a chance to speak with his solicitor. Following his arrest, Cronin rang his solicitor’s office and during a two-minute call, spoke to somebody working in the office.
Dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Kearns said the court was satisfied there was no deliberate effort by gardaí to proceed with the interview in the absence of Cronin being able to get advice from his solicitor. He also noted Cronin did not inform gardaí that he had been unable to speak to his solicitor and had not refused to take part in the interview because he was unable to speak to his solicitor.
The victim had told Cronin’s trial that she left the disco with him and they walked through the town before entering a cul-de-sac. They kissed for a while but he then put his hands down her top, at which point she asked him to stop. This made him “cross” and he knocked her to the ground.
She said he pulled her clothes down, caught her by the throat and attempted to rape her. A man come up and said: “Leave her alone.” Cronin jumped up but the man caught him.