A man due to appear on a rape charge before the Central Criminal Court next week yesterday got a temporary High Court order preventing the DPP prosecuting the case.
Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, for the man, said the case related to one offence which, it was alleged occurred between June 1st, 1979, and September 30th, 1980. The span of time made it impossible for his client to defend the allegation.
The man claimed to have moved from the area where the alleged offence occurred in March 1979. It was a case, said Mr Hartnett, which relied on visual identification.
The complainant would say the incident occurred when she was eight years of age and she saw him a few days later when he came into the house for a glass of water, that she then saw him at a prayer meeting when she was 15 and again in 1996.
Mr Hartnett said the complaint was made in October, 1996 and his client was arrested in June, 1997. Mr Justice McCracken said the man appeared to have a very strong case.