The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by a Mayo man convicted of raping his underage stepdaughter. However, the three appellate judges on the appeal panel, decided to reduce the man’s 17 year sentence by 30 months. The man could not be named to protect the identity of the victim. In a 22-page judgment delivered by Justice Paula-Mae Weekes, the judges said that the trial judge in the case failed to deduct the time the man spent in remand from his sentence.
Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Appeal Court Judge Alice Yorke-Soo Hon also sat on the appeal. “It is accepted that there is no indication of whether the trial judge considered the period of time the man spent awaiting trial, and we now alter the sentence imposed to reflect such a consideration,” Weekes said.
During the trial the State led evidence that on a night between March 28 and April 20, 2003, the man raped his stepdaughter at his home which he shared with the victim’s mother and her three children. The girl who was under 14 at the time testified after the incident that her stepfather threatened her and told her if she reported the incident he would kill her. The man was arrested several months later after the girl told her school principal about the incident.
In his defence, the man claimed that the girl and her mother fabricated the allegation against him. The State also raised “bad character” evidence against the man which showed that in 2006 he was charged with having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl. In his appeal challenging his conviction and sentence, the man’s lawyers claimed that trial judge erred in law in allowing the evidence of his other criminal charge. He also claimed that the judge failed to direct the jury on the victim’s delay in reporting the incident.
Weekes dismissed both grounds. She noted that the delay in making a report may have been because of the man’s threats to the victim. The convict was represented by Jagdeo Singh, while Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Joan Honore-Paul appeared for the State.