The man (55), who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty to a sexual assault alleged to have occurred on December 1st, 2017, in Co Dublin. The investigating garda told the trial that some class of ceremony was later performed between the accused and the woman. The man told gardaí in an interview that the woman first told him that she was a virgin but that she also had difficulties having sex in the past. Ms Justice Kennedy said none of the searches “point directly to sexual intercourse, but are indicative of a curiosity regarding sexual issues”. Given that the evidence could have had an impact on the jury’s verdict, we will quash the conviction,” Ms Justice Kennedy said.

Source: The Herald May 22, 2023 22:17 UTC