A 23-year-old man has lost a High Court bid to stop his prosecution for rape. In an action with implications for similar cases, the man had challenged the DPP's decision to change a charge of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge of a 16-year-old girl, initially brought against him, to one of rape.
The court heard that the DPP reviewed and changed the charge after a decision of the Supreme Court in the C case in May 2006 which struck down the law on statutory rape.
The alleged offence took place on February 22nd, 2003, when the girl was 16 years old. The man was then aged 20.
A Garda file was forwarded to the DPP in October 2003 and in February 2004 a prosecution for attempted unlawful carnal knowledge was directed. In December of that year, the man elected for trial by jury and in February 2005, he was sent forward for trial.
Adjournments then caused the case to be delayed until September 2006, when the DPP issued a direction to charge him with rape. The following month the charge of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge was discontinued. In December 2006, leave was obtained by the man, who cannot be named, to seek a judicial review of the decision.
The man sought an order restraining the DPP from taking any further steps to prosecute the case and quashing of the decision to charge him with rape.
The applicant submitted that the decision to charge him with rape was arbitrary, an abuse of process, a breach of fair procedures and a breach of the DPP's own guidelines.
The man said that had he pleaded guilty to the charge of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge, it would have carried a short sentence. He now faced a sentence of up to life imprisonment for the charge of rape.
Yesterday, Justice Roderick Murphy ruled that the DPP was justified in its actions. He declined to make an order of costs against the applicant and granted an application for a stay on the prosecution in the case of appeal.