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12 Dec 2025
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12 Dec 2025
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A 42-year-old man who repeatedly abused a young girl when she was aged between seven and 11, including one instance where he recorded himself raping her and another when he threatened to kill her pet dog if she told anyone, has failed in a bid to overturn his conviction at the Court of Appeal.
However, on Monday the court substituted one conviction of vaginal rape against James Quigley with a verdict of attempted rape.
The court heard he continues to deny any wrongdoing.
The judge imposed concurrent sentences of 13 years and suspended the final six months on strict conditions.
Regarding the first count, Mr Justice McCarthy said there had been “ample evidence” to permit a jury to convict of rape on that charge and the direction application in relation to this was rightly refused by the trial judge.
Mr Justice McCarthy noted it was conceded by counsel for Quigley that the Court of Appeal could properly substitute a verdict of attempted rape for rape on this count.
Mr Justice McCarthy said the trial judge had directed that each count on the indictment was to be dealt with separate and the three-judge Court of Appeal panel had no reason to believe that the jury did not do so.
He said accordingly, the view the court has taken on this count has “no implications for the verdicts on the others”.
On another occasion, Quigley was working at the girl’s family home and raped her in her mother's bedroom. He then grabbed her and said if she told anyone, he would kill her dog.
On another occasion, he tried to choke the girl and then attempted to digitally penetrate her, while recording it.
The court heard that the victim told gardai that the abuse occurred more than 20 times, but could not recall all the incidents. She told her mother about the abuse in 2020 and it was then reported to gardai.
She described Quigley as a “predator” who came into her life when she was seven.
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