People (Attorney General) v Kearns

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1949
• Date: 01 January 1949
• Court: Court of Criminal Appeal

Court of Criminal Appeal.

The People (Attorney General) v. Kearns.

THE PEOPLE (at the suit of the Attorney General)

and

CHRISTOPHER KEARNS (1)

Criminal law - Sentence - Offence of unlawful carnal knowledge of girl under the age of fifteen years - Plea in mitigation of sentence - Accused's belief as to age of girl - Evidence - Admissibility.

Criminal Appeal.

This was an application for leave to appeal against sentence of two years' imprisonment with hard labour which had been imposed upon the accused by the Circuit Court Judge (Judge Fawsitt) at Wicklow Circuit Court on a charge of having unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of fifteen years.

The accused pleaded guilty, and counsel on his behalf proposed to cross-examine one of the witnesses, a Superintendent of the Civic Guards, as to the girl's appearance and as to whether she appeared to be more than seventeen years of age, contending that the proposed evidence was relevant to the question of the state of mind of the accused at the time the offence was committed. The trial Judge, on the ground that it was related only to matters of defence which did not arise on the accused's plea...