Woman Raped In Wicklow Wins Legal Challenge To Reveal Identity Of Attacker

A woman who was raped as a child in Wicklow back in the late 1980’s has finally won a legal challenge against a court order, which prevented her attacker from being publicly named.

50 year old Declan hannon from Ramsgate Village in Gorey County Wexford, denied four counts of rape and two charges of sexual assault which happened on dates between 1987 and 1989 in County Wicklow when the victim was nine years old.  

He was convicted in March of last year, and given an 11 year sentence, which was later reduced to seven years. However a gagging order imposed during the trial prevented details of the case being reported.

But according to the Star newspaper, the Court of appeal ruled yesterday that the gagging order should never have been made.