Court quashes rape conviction
The Court of Criminal Appeal has quashed the conviction of a building worker found guilty of raping a Latvian woman almost three years ago.
In July 2006, Philip Murphy (aged 27), a father of three with addresses at Elmbrook Crescent, Lucan and Lindisfarne Vale, Clondalkin, Dublin, was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping the woman in his car after offering her a lift to her work on June 4, 2005.
He was subsequently sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison by Mr Justice Paul Carney, who also placed Murphy on the sex offenders register.
The jury reached its 10-2 majority verdict on the rape charge after almost seven hours of deliberations after a five-day trial.
Murphy had denied the charge and appealed against both his conviction and the sentence he received.
Today, the Court of Criminal Appeal of Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman presiding with Mr Justice Kevin Feeney and Mr Justice Brian McGovern said that the court was satisfied to set aside that conviction and ordered a retrial.
Lawyers for Murphy said that the trial judge had erred when he decided not to justify his decision to give no warning in relation to corroborated evidence during his charge to the jury.
