A 50-YEAR-OLD man, who denied charges of raping four of his daughters over an 18-year period between 1991 and 2009, changed his plea to guilty when he appeared before the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, also pleaded guilty to charges of wilfully assaulting, neglecting or abandoning each of the daughters in a manner likely to cause each of them unnecessary suffering.
On Tuesday, the defendant pleaded not guilty to each of 271 charges as they were read to him, a process that took some 90 minutes.
However, yesterday, when the man appeared again at the court in Castlebar, Co Mayo, he entered a plea of guilty to 14 sample charges He pleaded guilty to twice raping two of his daughters, one of them four times and the fourth on a single occasion.
He also admitted charges of wilfully assaulting, neglecting or abandoning each of his victims.
Mr Justice Paul Carney discharged the jury, telling the jurors their services would no longer be required due to the change of plea overnight by the accused.
He thanked them for making themselves available for a case that “would have been long and unpleasant”.
Mr Justice Carney, who directed that a victim impact report be made available, remanded the man until 11am today when the case will resume.