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Army captain appeals conviction for sexually assaulting female soldier at barracks
Captain Ross O’Shea was convicted following an incident at a Covid-19 barbecue in 2020, where he was 'inebriated'
The High Court | File photo
Reporter:
Reporter
13 Jun 2024 11:04 AM
An army captain has appealed his conviction for sexually assaulting a female soldier at a military barracks four years ago.
His argument for appeal was that missing CCTV footage meant he was “robbed” of a possible line of defence.
The State has argued that CCTV footage could not add anything to the established facts and that the area of contention is “vanishingly tiny”.
Captain Ross O’Shea was found guilty by a General Court Martial in October 2022 of sexually assaulting a female non-commissioned officer (NCO) following a barbeque during the Covid-19 lockdown at a barracks in Leinster on June 25, 2020.
O’Shea had been brought to the Officer’s Mess by two female NCOs after he had been found asleep and in a 'state of inebriation' sitting in a chair outside a gymnasium where the barbeque had earlier been held.
O’Shea was convicted on October 14, 2022 of sexually assaulting the woman by moving his open palms up and down her back saying “come on, come on” or words to that effect at the Officer’s Mess.
He was also found guilty of one charge of assault against the same officer. His dismissal was ordered as part of the sentence imposed on these two charges.
O’Shea remains, pending appeal, a serving member of the army.
At the Court of Appeal, counsel argued that missing CCTV footage which may have captured the incident meant his client was “robbed of the opportunity” of a particular line of defence.
O’Shea was charged and tried before the Court Martial with a total of 18 offences. He pleaded guilty to five charges, including charges of conduct contrary to good order and two charges of assault against the two female NCO officers.
Counsel argued the case by saying that there was evidence of a camera which potentially recorded what happened but that this footage no longer existed by the time his client came to court.
Counsel said there were discrepancies in some of the prosecution evidence, including whether the complainant and O’Shea went into the officer’s mess together or whether she proceeded ahead and whether the door to the area where the offences occurred was open or closed at the time.
He said the footage was never sought out and preserved and thatthe lost evidence denied Captain O’Shea a potentially useful line of defence.
Counsel submitted that as a consequence of the issues surrounding the CCTV, the appellant was subjected to an unfair trial.
Remy Farrell SC, for the Director of Military Prosecutions (DMP), said it was accepted as a matter of fact that the appellant had a physical interaction with the complainant where he essentially hugged her.
“What conceivably could CCTV add to that?” he said, adding that the area of contention was “vanishingly tiny”.
He said the issue of whether the complainant went in with Captain O’Shea or whether she proceeded ahead was “an extremely minor detail” and one that does not affect “the events that occurred thereafter”.
He said Captain O’Shea accepted that he had his arms around the complainant so even if “by some extraordinary circumstance” a CCTV with a zoom lens was trained on the situation, what was relevant was what happened behind her.
Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the court would reserve judgement in the matter.
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