Sexual Offences

A rapist was given a suspended sentence in Newry Crown Court after his victim said she did not want his family to suffer. Eugene Gallagher, 44, admitted charges of rape and indecent assault between October 1990 and March 1991, when he was 16 and the anonymous victim was 15, BBC News reports.

The Court of Appeal in Belfast has found that a five-month sentence imposed on a man convicted of sexually assaulting his two-year-old son was unduly lenient. The man served just two-and-a-half months of his sentence, and was not subject to a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO).

Bullying and sexual harassment is "rife in the legal profession", according to a new study which surveyed nearly 7,000 legal professionals from 135 countries. The International Bar Association (IBA) and international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills today launched the Us Too? – Bullying and Se

A man who was convicted of rape and indecent assault in 1996 has lost a challenge to the mechanism for reviewing notification requirements. Rejecting the application, Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan was satisfied that the review mechanism was compatible with the European Convention of Human Rights, and t

An organisation representing sex workers in Ireland has welcomed the conviction of a man for raping two women who were working as escorts. The Sex Workers' Alliance Ireland (SWAI) said it had provided support to the two women during the course of the criminal investigation into Gheorghe Goidan, who

Restricted public access to rape trials and the provision of publicly-funded legal advice to complainants are among the final recommendations of the judge-led review into serious sexual offence trials.

Plans to criminalise revenge pornography and upskirting have received Government backing. The Cabinet has approved the drafting of amendments to the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017, which was introduced by Labour TD Brendan Howlin following a 2016 report by the Law

The Department of Justice and Probation Board NI (PBNI) will complete an assessment of a domestic violence pilot at Londonderry Magistrates' Court by September under the updated domestic and sexual violence and abuse strategy. Since last March, judges in Derry have been allowed to refer those convic

A former teacher awaiting prosecution for historic sexual offences against one of his pupils has lost his appeal to the Supreme Court in which he argued that his prosecution under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 was unconstitutional. By a narrow majority, Mr Justice Donal O’D

A man who was sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment for raping and sexually abusing his step-daughter over a period of seven years has lost an appeal against his conviction. Dismissing all five grounds raised by the man, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy found, inter alia, that the trial judge had not e

A new law allowing for individuals who commit serious offences abroad to be prosecuted under Irish law has come into force from today. The Criminal Law (Extraterritorial Jurisdiction) Act 2019 was signed into law in March, allowing the State to ratify the Istanbul Convention on International Women's

At least two women are expected to bring a legal challenge against new "digital consent forms" being used by police in England and Wales to access the personal data of rape complainants. The measures were introduced by police and prosecutors in response to disclosure failings which led to a number o

A consultation on proposals to strengthen the law to protect children in Northern Ireland from sexual exploitation and abuse has closed. The consultation looked at existing criminal law relating to a number of specific areas including: indecent images of children; grooming and online exploitation; c

A former law lecturer who is serving ten years' imprisonment in Arbour Hill Prison for sexual offences has successfully argued that there was a want of fair procedures in a disciplinary hearing which resulted in his phone and visitation privileges being denied for 30 days. In deciding to sanction th

The footballer Ched Evans, whose conviction for rape was quashed three years ago, has settled out of court for an estimated £800,000 with his defence solicitors, The Times reports. The Sheffield United player, 30, spent two-and-a-half years in prison before new evidence emerged that allowed hi