Ex Ryanair CEO O'Neill's sex-assault conviction appeal fails
A former chief executive of Ryanair has failed in his appeal against his conviction for sexually assaulting a young woman over four years ago.
Eugene O’Neill (aged 54) was sentenced to two years imprisonment by Judge Patricia Ryan in March 2009, after a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury found him guilty of sexual assault by a majority verdict following a five-day trial.
O’Neill, who was also previously managing director of the Sunday Tribune, had denied sexually assaulting the woman in her home in south Dublin on November 19, 2006.
The trial heard that O’Neill, who suffers from psychosis, had not taken his medication for two days prior to the attack.
Surmising a number of written submissions before the appeal court, counsel for O’Neill, Mr Ronan Prendergast BL, said that the trial judge had erred in the delivery of her charge to the jury.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Liam McKechnie, sitting with Mr Justice Declan Budd and Mr Justice Michael Hanna, said the court would dismiss the appeal as no requisition or objection was taken to the events giving rise to the grounds of appeal at the original trial.
He said that in order for the court to consider matters not raised at the original trial, there must be some explanation tendered as to why the points of objection were not taken, and that no such explanation was forthcoming.
Mr Justice Liam McKechnie said the court would exercise its “independent voice” in expressing its “abhorrence” at the practice of raising points at the Court of Criminal Appeal that were not raised in the court below.
He said such a practice would strongly jeopardise the function of the appeal court, and that the court would not entertain such grounds for appeal.
