Rape and sexual assault cases accounted for almost 80 per cent of the cases for which hearing dates up to July next year were set at the Central Criminal Court June listing session. The list before Mr Justice Carney had 32 cases and 25 of these were for rapes and sex assault. The balance of the cases were for murder.
This latest listing continues a growing trend in the past two years in which serious sex assault cases are increasingly dominating the Central Criminal Court hearings.
Nolle prosequis were entered by the State in respect of a rape charge against a Dublin man in a 1996 case and in respect of one outstanding sex assault charge against a Cork man who has already been convicted of similar offences relating to his sister and his daughter.