FGM charges dropped, lawyers ask for miscarriage of justice certificate

By Eimear Dodd

Charges faced by a married couple accused of female genital mutilation (FGM) have been dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dublin Circuit Court has heard.

The couple were convicted of the female genital mutilation (FGM) of their daughter in 2020, but went on trial again last year, after the earlier conviction was quashed in the Court of Appeal.

The couple had both pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of carrying out an act of FGM on a then one-year-old girl at an address in Dublin on September 16, 2016.

The 42-year-old man and 32-year-old woman also pleaded not guilty to one count of child cruelty on the same day.

They are both originally from an African nation but cannot be named to protect the identity of the child.

A jury was unable to agree on a verdict following a re-trial last year.

Today, prosecuting senior counsel John Byrne told the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) was entering nolle prosequis on all charges, meaning they were being dropped.

Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, representing the woman, indicated his concerns with the DPP’s approach.

He submitted that a miscarriage of justice certificate should be granted, and as part of this, a jury should be formally directed to issue an acquittal.

He noted that a new expert report for the DPP agreed with the defence’s expert that there was no FGM.

Hugh Hartnett SC, representing the man, said an “appalling miscarriage of justice” had occurred, which required some acknowledgement from the DPP.

The case was adjourned until October 25 for mention before Judge Patricia Ryan.

In January 2020, Judge Elma Sheahan sentenced the man to five-and-a-half years imprisonment and the woman to four years and nine months following their conviction by a jury after an eight-day trial.

The couple later appealed both convictions on the grounds their right to a fair trial had been breached when their answers to questions from counsel during proceedings were mistranslated.

The 2020 conviction was quashed in November 2021.

A re-trial took place at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last year in which a jury was unable to agree a verdict.