Limerick pensioner fails in appeal against conviction for abusing granddaughters

A PENSIONER from County Limerick who repeatedly abused his two granddaughters is to serve the remainder of his 11-year prison sentence after his conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

In July of last year, serial abuser Patrick Shanahan, aged 76, of Cooga, Doon was convicted by a unanimous jury, at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court, of 14 counts of sexually assaulting Daria and Tara Tobin on dates between 2010 and 2014.

He had pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Daria and Tara waived their own right to anonymity last year so Shanahan could be named.

The court heard the abuse involved the rubbing of the girls' vaginas and later moved on to vaginal penetration by insertion of his finger and tongue when the girls were aged between 10 and 14.

The abuse occurred in the appellant's own home, on nearby land and property as well as in his van on local journeys.

Shanahan had appealed his convictions on the grounds of delay and alleged inconsistencies in one of the complaints, as well as arguing that evidence on how the abuse was disclosed should not have gone before the jury.

In delivering judgement at the Court of Appeal this Monday, Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh said the court found that all three conditions for the admissibility of the complaint were satisfied and she said the court was of the view that the trial judge was correct in ruling the evidence admissible.

At a previous hearing of the appeal, Anthony Sammon SC for Shanahan, said the appeal was based on the time passed between the offending and the girls' complaint to their aunt and then to gardaí.

Limerick pensioner appeals convictions over repeated abuse of his two granddaughters

Counsel said the appeal was also grounded in the "inconsistency" of one complaint and that questions of a leading or a suggestive nature could have been used by their aunt in making her inquiries.

In relation to the issue of delay, Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh said the question of whether the complaint was made at the first reasonable opportunity in this case was not merely a question of the period of time involved but of the evidence as a whole.

She said the court found that there was “ample evidence” in this case that the complainants felt unable to make a proper complaint at an earlier stage in their lives.

She said it was an important point to note that the courts have become more aware of the psychological impact of sexual offending.

“The Irish courts in judicial review proceedings have long since accepted that there are complex psychological reasons for delays in making complaints of sexual abuse,” she commented.

The judge noted that the evidence was that the alleged abuse took place when the complainants were children and that the appellant, their grandfather, spent a lot of time in their company because the grandparents spent time caring for the children.

She said in this setting, it would not be surprising to find that a child would find it difficult to complain about what was happening.

The judge said the first complainant gave evidence that because of parental issues of deafness and other problems she knew she would have to carry the burden of disclosure alone and without support and felt unable to do so until she had reached the age of majority.

In addition, she said, the second complainant was depressed, suicidal and self-harming.

“It is hard to think of more compelling evidence to suggest that her mental state was not one of sufficient strength to make a disclosure of what had happened to her before the occasion upon which the full disclosure was actually made to the aunt,” said the judge.

Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh said in the circumstances, and on the basis of the specific evidence in this case, the court had “no difficulty” in concluding that the complaint made by the two complainants to their aunt fell within the parameters of the requirement of a complaint made at the first reasonable opportunity.

Mr Sammon had also submitted that, in relation to the aunt's questioning, the complaint may "not be a voluntary one" if questions of a suggestive or leading character were used".

Mr Sammon said the aunt asked Tara "Is it something to do with Paddy [Shanahan]?" and "You need to tell me what's going on".

After Tara said it was not to do with her boyfriend or her friends, she confirmed Shanahan was abusing her.

Addressing this issue today, the judge said it was clear that the aunt’s questioning was taking place in a context where she already knew that the younger child was troubled about something and was ready to make some kind of disclosure.

“This emerges from the evidence that the older sister told the aunt ‘I think she will now’ in response to a question by the aunt as to whether the younger sister would talk to her about what was troubling her,” said Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh.

“The younger sister also gave evidence that she and her sister had decided to tell the aunt that day.

She said in those circumstances, the aunt in effect, merely assisted her in saying something which she herself wished to say, and did so by asking about a series of possibilities, the last of which concerned the appellant.

The judge said the court concluded that the evidence fell within the parameters of the voluntariness requirement of the recent complaint doctrine.

In relation to the issue of consistency, the judge said the appellant’s argument appeared to be that the terms of the complaint made to the aunt were inconsistent with the evidence at trial that the first complainant had denied being sexually assaulted by the appellant on one particular occasion when her mother asked her about it.

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Ms Justice Ní Raifeartaigh said there had been evidence that in September 2016, the first complainant had been questioned by her mother and denied having been sexually assaulted.

However, she said the complainant’s own evidence at the trial was that, although she had chosen not to tell her parents at the time because of their personal challenges, she had been sexually assaulted by the appellant.

“Thus, the court does not see any inconsistency between her evidence (that she was sexually assaulted) at the trial, and the complaint made to her aunt,” said the judge.

“The court concludes that the third condition of consistency between the complaint to the aunt and the evidence of the complainants at trial was therefore established,” she added.