A Dublin schoolteacher jailed for three years for sexually abusing a pupil in the late 1970s had his conviction quashed yesterday by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The teacher, who has been suspended on pay since 1998, was alleged to have molested the child in front of other boys in the class while correcting his homework. The abuse was alleged to have begun when the boy was eight and to have occurred on various dates between 1977 and 1980.
The teacher, who was convicted on four sample counts, was subsequently given bail pending the outcome of appeal to the CCA.
During his trial the teacher denied making sexual advances to any pupil in the school. He said he often put his arm around pupils in class and tucked in their shirts from time to time."It went with the job," he said in evidence.
Allowing the appeal, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, sitting with Mr Justice Barr and Mr Justice O Caoimh, said the trial judge, who had indicated he would review the sentence after a year, had not adequately warned the jury of the danger of convicting on the basis of uncorroborated evidence.
While he had indicated they should take care before convicting on uncorroborated evidence, this was as much as he had done. It was a real requirement to inform the jury that caution should be exercised by them in the circumstances.