Botched rape case nun is innocent, says DPP
Tuesday November 23 1999
Their convictions for the rape of a 10-year-old girl in 1987-88 were quashed in July by the Court of Criminal Appeal following a number of errors in their trial in June.
Yesterday a lawyer for the DPP said he ``very much regrets the errors which occurred in relation to the handling of this case by the prosecution'' which led to the appeal court setting aside the decision of the trial court.
DPP James Hamilton announced last week that he had decided not to seek a retrial in the case of the two.
The DPP's statement outlined the sequence of events from the decision to prosecute Ms Wall and Mr McCabe on April 24, 1997 up to their release by the Court of Criminal Appeal, initially on bail, in July just days after they had been sentenced to life and 12 years respectively.
It explained how the prosecution came to call on witness, Patricia Phelan, despite an earlier direction by the DPP made in April 1997 that she should not be called.
When the case was called in the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday, Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, for the DPP, read a prepared statement.
He said the DPP had considered the transcript of evidence that was given at the trial together with additional information obtained by the gardai and had concluded that it would not be proper to proceed with his application for a retrial.
Mr Vaughan Buckley added: ``I am instructed to emphasise that the director's concern to defend the propriety of the decision to charge the two accused does not in any sense detract from the fact, which is fully and ungrudgingly accepted by the director, that the two accused are entitled to be presumed innocent of all the charges which were brought, not only those of which they were acquitted by the jury but also of those which were set aside and which are not to be the subject of further proceedings.''
Presiding judge Mr Justice Murray sitting with Mr Justice Smyth and Mr Justice Kelly said the court would confirm the setting aside of the convictions, with no order for a retrial.
Neither Ms Wall nor Mr McCabe will have to pay the costs of their lengthy proceedings which could total around £60,000.
Ms Wall was awarded the costs of the six-day trial while she had been allowed legal aid for the Court of Criminal Appeal proceedings.
Mr McCabe had been on legal aid for the trial and was yesterday awarded the costs of the appeal proceedings.
Ms Wall is now considering suing the State over the way in which her controversial case was conducted.
Her solicitor Sean Costello said he had discussed the matter with her after yesterday's hearing and she would be in further contact with him.
``She has made no definite decision. She just wants to relax and take account of everything that has happened to her,'' he said.
Nora Wall departs with a remarkable lack of bitterness
By AIDEEN SHEEHAN
NORA Wall pushed her way through the throng of reporters and family to catch up with the prosecuting barrister.
The former Mercy sister extended her hand to the man who had presented the State's flawed case against her and said ``thank you'' for what had just happened in court.
Denis Vaughan Buckley shook hands, looking taken aback at the unexpected gesture, so rare coming from the opposing side after such a serious criminal trial.
But for the former nun who had just received her final vindication it was clearly important to make a gesture of conciliation, a tangible sign of her remarkable lack of bitterness over being wrongfully convicted of rape.
After 33 court appearances including a six-day trial, she'd just got as close to an apology as the Director of Public Prosecutions has ever been known to make.
The DPP had stated through Mr Vaughan Buckley that ``he very much regrets the errors'' in the handling of the case, and had ``fully and ungrudgingly accepted'' that Nora Wall and Paul McCabe should ``be presumed innocent of all charges''.
In court Nora Wall smiled and laughed with the sisters and brother who accompanied her.
Dressed in a green skirt and brightly coloured cardigan, she looked happier and more relaxed than the impassive figure we'd seen during the trial.
The DPP had already made his decision known but Nora Wall had travelled up from her native Co Waterford eager to hear the official end to the nightmare.
After the three-year ordeal the final hearing was brief.
The State admitted it could not go ahead with a retrial for either her or Paul McCabe after studying the evidence from the first one.
A brief dispute arose over costs. Ms Wall's legal team demanded the State should pay her full legal bill for the botched trial.
This would be very unusual, Mr Vaughan Buckley argued.
While the Court of Criminal Appeal had that right ``it would certainly be very unusual'' to award the costs of the original trial. But there was nothing usual about this case and the appeal judge duly ordered that the State should pick up the full financial tab.
After the case Ms Wall disappeared to the lower recesses of the Four Courts to consult with family and solicitors.
Later, avoiding what must have been the tempting option of slipping out a sidedoor, she faced into a battery of waiting camera crews, microphones and photographers at the main entrance, looking startled and intimidated by the scrutiny, though relieved it was at long last over.
Her brother Jim, who stood by her throughout the proceedings, stepped in to make a brief statement.
``We are happy with the outcome. We came to court to prove our innocence and now we are on the way home,'' he said.
Photos over, his sister politely made her way out and walked into the wintry sunshine to resume her life free of the awful cloud that has hung over her since the rape charges were made.
- JOHN MADDOCK
