Irish Examiner view: Cross-border complexities to our laws

Mon, 23 Oct, 2023 - 02:00

The case in Dublin involving an anonymised Irish entertainer who was cleared of child defilement charges that would have defined him as a sex offender for the rest of his life illustrates how an imperfect and, in some ways, unsatisfactory procedure can still contribute to the judicial process by allowing accusations to be heard and tested.

The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found not guilty of three charges of sex with an underage schoolgirl following a relationship that commenced in 2010 after a meeting at the Oxegen music festival when she was 16. He was aged 27 at the time.

During the eight-day trial, he maintained that he believed she was aged 18. The complainant accepted she initially lied that she was 18, but claimed she revealed her actual age when he asked her by text if she was “sweet 16”.

Such cases involving historic accusations can pose particular evidential problems. In this case, a phone and the texts it contained were lost before the complainant came forward in 2021.

Judge Pauline Codd told the jury it was a case of “I said, he said” with no independent corroborative evidence. She advised jurors not to be prejudiced by anything they had read about the conduct of “high-profile persons” in the context of the “MeToo” movement.

This is guidance that would have been unnecessary six years ago before the social media hashtag made such an impact on public perception.

Anonymity is a generally undesirable principle in cases before adult courts, but it was extended to defendants in the Republic in all forms of sexual offence trials following the 2018 Belfast rape hearings in which two rugby players were acquitted.

In the North, the public is banned from attending such trials, and lifelong anonymity is extended to all victims until 25 years after their death. Suspects have anonymity up to the point they are charged, a significantly different approach.

As people contemplate what Ireland might look like in the future as a united country, we can be clear that the matter of shared jurisprudence is going to be debated long and hard.

One of the metrics that might be applied is whether, in the age of social media and so-called “citizen journalists”, the cherished, and often misunderstood, principle of “justice being seen to be done” becomes further eroded.

Bobby Charlton: A golden boy from a monochrome era

With the death of Bobby Charlton this weekend, we mark the passing of the last survivor of the Munich air disaster, a tragedy marked movingly by the clock that stands outside Old Trafford, its dial frozen at 3.04pm on February 6, 1958.

This was the time and date on which Charlton lost many of his team-mates — the famous “Busby Babes” — and friends as the plane carrying Manchester United players crashed on take-off while returning from a win over Red Star Belgrade in what was only the second season of the European Cup.

The flaxen-haired Charlton, then 21, was never the same again, becoming an introverted, sometimes sour, senior professional who could appear to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

What is also beyond argument is that he transitioned into one of the most recognisable footballers on Earth, a name that would drop quickly from the mouths of supporters alongside contemporaries such as Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskás, and Pelé.

Charlton’s famous elder brother, Jackie, had a more agricultural approach to playing the game, but the two siblings formed the core of the England World Cup-winning team in 1966. Indeed, it was Bobby who ignited the campaign with a trademark pile-driving goal against Mexico, followed by a world-class performance — and two more goals — which put paid to Eusebio’s rampant Portugal in the semi-final.

It was something he repeated two years later at Wembley in what is now viewed as his greatest match. Eusebio’s Benfica were the victims this time, and Charlton, the captain, scored twice as United triumphed and became the first English club to win Europe’s principal trophy.

Charlton’s frisson with his brother lasted many years, but the pair were reconciled before Jack’s death in 2020. In his autobiography, the former Ireland boss wrote of the impact of the disaster: “I saw a big change in our kid from that day on. He stopped smiling, a trait which continues to this day.”

Charlton left United in 1973 and drifted through unsuccessful management at Preston before, remarkably, agreeing to appear for Waterford United in 1976 for a share of gate receipts. “Charlton shows his old magic,” said the Irish Examiner of his debut against St Pat’s.

The deal was short-lived. Charlton went on to join the board at Old Trafford and establish his branded soccer schools which created a route into the game for many including, most famously, David Beckham.

Irishman honoured

In an era where much modern architecture evokes the response “meh” — too flat, too plain, too straight, too shiny, too monotonous, too anonymous, too serious according to a new book — it is cheering to be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the world’s best-known buildings, and the part played in its development by an Irishman.

While the Danish architect Jorn Utzon drew inspiration from bird wings, the shape of clouds, seashells, walnuts, and palm trees, it was the visionary engineer Peter Rice from Dundalk in Co Louth, who converted concrete, steel, and glass to form the iconic structure that is the Sydney Opera House.

Rice died aged 57 from a brain tumour in 1992 with a formidable list of achievements — the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the TGV station in Lille, Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, and the Louvre Pyramid among them — and it is fitting that his contribution to Sydney’s celebration in a country where more than 2.5m people claim Irish ancestry should be recognised in a commemorative stamp issued by An Post.

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