A Tallaght man has been found not guilty of rape but guilty of aggravated sexual assault of his friend's fiancee after an impromptu party in her house, on May 24th, 1997. A jury of eight women and four men took almost five hours to reach a majority verdict of not guilty of rape.
Earlier, after three hours' deliberation, the jury convicted the 28-year old man of the aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault of the woman on the same occasion. The man had denied all the allegations during the three-day trial at the Central Criminal Court.