Women walks away scot free after admitting making up sexual assault allegations

User45701

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/victim-of-wrongful-conviction-in-sex-case-to-seek-euro1m-damages-1721464.html

update

"Ms Hardester told gardai she was never coerced or coached by anyone into making the allegation."

And the guy in question is only seeking 1 million in damages? thats all? whats that in £? was the orginal exchange rate 1.27?

Anyway your man has been screwed over and your 1 - i really want to know why we havent applied to the states to have that c**t extradited

jimi_t

User45701 wrote: »

"Ms Hardester told gardai she was never coerced or coached by anyone into making the allegation."

"Ms Hardester went on the record to completely absolve her family, as she can never be prosecuted given that she committed the crime as a child".

walshb

jimi_t wrote: »

"Ms Hardester went on the record to completely absolve her family, as she can never be prosecuted given that she committed the crime as a child".

Seeing as she has been lying for so long, who is to say what she is saying now is true.
Anyway, if it's the truth, she really is a bad egg and the whole, "I found god" is enough for me! These are the ones who really need monitoring!

Darkbloom

walshb wrote: »

Seeing as she has been lying for so long, who is to say what she is saying now is true.
Anyway, if it's the truth, she really is a bad egg and the whole, "I found god" is enough for me! These are the ones who really need monitoring!

I'm not sure about her personally; I would like to see <> whoever was responsible convicted. It's a terrible situation, especially for the innocent guy, but coming forward takes balls.

enda1

Caoimhín wrote: »

She should spend the same time in jail as he did.

It was a suspended sentence...

jimi_t

walshb wrote: »

Anyway, if it's the truth...

''I found God!'' > ''I found the relevant statute of limitations!''

walshb

Darkbloom wrote: »

I'm not sure about her personally; I would like to see <> whoever was responsible convicted. It's a terrible situation, especially for the innocent guy, but coming forward takes balls.

I assume you mean convicted ONLY if it's proven they did coerce and support her original claim?

Anyway, how this could be proved now is very unlikely, given the girls
history!

Darkbloom

walshb wrote: »

I assume you mean convicted ONLY if it's proven they did coerce and support her original claim?!

Obviously. It's a very strange case.

Zulu

Whats strange?

She lied. People do.
She admitted the lie. People do.

Darkbloom

Zulu wrote: »

Whats strange?

She lied. People do.
She admitted the lie. People do.

Yes, but the question of how you can address the mistake and redress the wrongs of the conviction...

Handsome Bob

Terry wrote: »

As for the chick in question. She found God, so all is well.


How the **** do people get away with stuff by saying they have found God?
This is not a state run by any church*, yet courts are lenient on those who say they found God.
What if someone was to say sorry for wasting the court's time. I'm not going to be a bad person any more.
Would they be treated the same way?
It's a ****ing cop out and I can't believe judges can't see past it.

Galvasean wrote: »

I wasn't agreeing that the two cases are comparable, just outlining what te post was about.



Yup, sad state of affairs. You'll probably find most of these violent criminals who are released from prison despicably early have 'found God'. Found an easy escape route is more like it.

sidenote: I wonder if one was to 'find God' and start quoting the Bible passages that condone rape would you get off lightly? (first to make a joke about that choice of wording will suffer).

C'mon lads, neither of you have any solid ground for saying that.

Zulu

Darkbloom wrote: »

Yes, but the question of how you can address the mistake and redress the wrongs of the conviction...

I can think of a good few ideas:
Man sues state for damages.
State apologises for man for wrong doing.
State prosecutes woman for perverting the course of justice in original case.
State investigate case again and prosecute anyone else complicit in the lie.
Woman is persecuted further if found to be guilty of lying <>/is offered an amnesty in new case for helping any further investigations.

994

DrumSteve wrote: »

if they bring in a law stating that if you lie about an assault then you go to jail... well it wouldnt work.

basically then every court case would have someone going to jail... defendant or plaintiff. basically whoever wins the other is ****ed. ( literally)

It'd stop victims coming forward especially if there is no coherent evidence ya know.

her parents should still be genitally mutilated though.

There already is a law against this; it's called perjury and has always been illegal.

Caoimhin wrote:

She should spend the same time in jail as he did.

He spent no time in jail (first offence, suspended sentence)

ilkhanid

Unfortunately in Ireland, perjury is treated very lightly. Almost nobody is ever convicted of it, or even charged with it,even if it's as plain as the nose on your face what is going on. Look at the tribunals.:mad:

jimi_t

ilkhanid wrote: »

Unfortunately in Ireland, perjury is treated very lightly. Almost nobody is ever convicted of it, or even charged with it,even if it's as plain as the nose on your face what is going on. Look at the tribunals.:mad:

Tribunals ≠ Court Case so it doesn't apply, but I completely agree with you. Asides from Italy we're the only EU country where the head of state has been caught lieing outright when under investigation in a formal setting.

DrumSteve

994 wrote: »

There already is a law against this; it's called perjury and has always been illegal.

But didnt this girl perjur herself by doin what she did? <SNIP>

grumpytrousers

Zulu wrote: »

I can think of a good few ideas:
Man sues state for damages.
State apologises for man for wrong doing.
State prosecutes woman for perverting the course of justice in original case.
State investigate case again and prosecute anyone else complicit in the lie.
Woman is persecuted further if found to be guilty of lying to protect family/is offered an amnesty in new case for helping any further investigations.

State can't prosecute her now, AFAIK, for what she did in 1997 at the age of ten.

If the state *could* prosecute her, I'd be interested to know how the whole 'God finding' thing would have worked out.

Zulu

grumpytrousers wrote: »

State can't prosecute her now, AFAIK, for what she did in 1997 at the age of ten.

Oh I know. I was just answering the question posed.

herya

DrumSteve wrote: »

But didnt this girl perjur herself by doin what she did? <SNIP>

Yes she did but she was 10 at the time so I presume she can't be charged for what she did as a child. IF (if if if) she was coached or coerced by an adult they could be charged but not her - again I presume.

I wonder if she can be cross-examined now re: possible coercion thing. I think it would be a fair thing to do, I wonder if the victim can apply for it?

Fanny Cradock

Just heard on Today FM that apparently she admitted to the Garda 8 years previously that he didn't molest her.

herya

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Just heard on Today FM that apparently she admitted to the Garda 8 years previously that he didn't molest her.

Oh. That would kind of shift the onus.

lalalulu

drunkmonkey wrote: »

the little bitch should be locked up...that's just wrong, she ruined a guys life...

Is your comment not a little harsh??!!! Are you forgetting she was ten years old! A child of that age may tell lies and say things to gain attention, however it looks like in this case she was probably listening to her family who had issues with this man's family. She may have been coerced into making this story up! I agree an adult making false allegations should definitely be given a jail sentence but a child?????

grumpytrousers

lalalulu wrote: »

Is your comment not a little harsh??!!! Are you forgetting she was ten years old! A child of that age may tell lies and say things to gain attention, however it looks like in this case she was probably listening to her family who had issues with this man's family. She may have been coerced into making this story up! I agree an adult making false allegations should definitely be given a jail sentence but a child?????

frankly you'll be finding a lot of harsh comments; the fact remains that a lot of the anger here, well, as a male, I can't help but think 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

Or any of us.

herya

grumpytrousers wrote: »

frankly you'll be finding a lot of harsh comments; the fact remains that a lot of the anger here, well, as a male, I can't help but think 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

Or any of us.

Honestly I can sympathise. It must be similar to what most women feel hearing about a gruesome random rape. It could have been me.

AckwelFoley

There is a pic of her on the front page of one of the rag newspapers.

Shes hot

Im saying no more, but you all know what im thinking.

K4t

Why didn't she come forward when she was in her teens?

Surely she knew the difference between right and wrong by that stage (or not the stupid bicth). :rolleyes:

herya

K4t wrote: »

Why didn't she come forward when she was in her teens?

It's mentioned above that she might have done that a couple of years ago. I'd like to hear more on this.

Nodin

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Just heard on Today FM that apparently she admitted to the Garda 8 years previously that he didn't molest her.

Fer fucks sake......

Boston

The news said that he only found out by chance that she retracted her statement. Sounds like that gardi ****ed up.

walshb

walshb wrote: »

I agree, but this case is different. She was NOT a woman when the claim was made.
She was 10 and it's possible I would say that this child was coerced and supported by
adults in making the claim. These are the real vermin in this case and these should be held responsible

Fully agree with that.

Read the story today. There was a dispute over land previously between her parents and the accused <SNIP>

[offtopic] 3000th post woohoo [offtopic]

j1smithy

Back to the original allegation, the Stay Safe programme was launched for youngsters at around the time of the reported incident. <SNIP> Serious questions need to be asked of the investigating team though as i'm sure there were holes in her story. Though the team probably took a gently gently approach as she was only 10, had no reason to doubt her, and the alleged perp would have had a motive. This case shows that a new approach is required when it comes to interviewing child witnesses and victims, to ensure the truthfulness of the claims. I wonder was a psychologist present at the time of the childs interview?

Should she serve time for her false report of assault? Well it depends and is certainly not clear cut. If she was coerced well those responsible should do time. If not well I'm not too sure, while the 10 year old probably knew it was wrong to lie, it is unlikely she understood the seriousness of the claims she was making and that it had the potential to completely ruin his life.

To the OP, whats the difference between free and scot free??? Sensationalism in AH... never!

ilkhanid

Unless, my memory is seriously defective I remember a case-might not be in Ireland- years ago where a woman falsely accused a man of rape and was found out. I have no recollection of her being charged with perjury, or even of wasting police time. In fact some women had sympathy for her,not the man.:mad: They were coming out with stuff about how her false claim was a sigh of her disturbed mental state and how she needed help and understanding, not condemnation. I 'd say that would make many men feel very bitter. I certainly did.

Calibos

Christ on a bike. Its page thirteen and there are still posters coming into the thread and saying, "You know what....I think she might have been coached"

If the latest info about at least 1 Garda being informed the allegations were false 8 years ago. Well he/she should get all the punishment recommended by all the previous posters for the girl in question. Turns out the kid may have done the right thing back at an age when she would have gotten Kudos for it.

Jaysus though, what is it with the Guards up in the North West!!

Fanny Cradock

If it's true that she retracted her statement (or attempted to) year before and nothing was done about it then it clearly is a miscarriage of justice.

drunkmonkey

I presume in a case like this a medical professional or garda would have to testify that there were injurys or marks on the child, did someone testify or did everybody just take the kid at face value?

<SNIP>

dan719

I'm being compared on the internet to the killers of Jamie Bulger

Someone reads boards.ie.:rolleyes:

Nodin

Caoimhín wrote: »

She should spend the same time in jail as he did.

....because the actions of a 10 year old should be subject to the full weight of the law? I think not.

<SNIP>

Zulu

It appears she happy to face any charges that may be brought against her.
Kudos.

Gran Hermano

If a person is old enough to testify and give evidence they should be old enough to face the implications of making false accusations.

Boston

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I presume in a case like this a medical professional or garda would have to testify that there were injurys or marks on the child, did someone testify or did everybody just take the kid at face value?

What on earth makes you presume that.

Jonty

So, is this innocent man still on the sex offender's register, and if he has been removed, is there still a record of him being on it??

Serena08

Jonty wrote: »

So, is this innocent man still on the sex offender's register, and if he has been removed, is there still a record of him being on it??

If it has taken this long to clear his name I can only assume if indeed he is on a sex offenders list he has another battle on his hands in getting that record corrected :eek:

javaboy

Please stick to the facts when posting. There is no proof that she was coerced by anyone to tell lies.

Cath09

<SNIP> I will post a link to it.
Also, anything told on Gerry Ryan this morning was fact. Only for his sister bumped into that girl in a petrol station, he would never have known the girl came back to retract her statement. The Gards were in no hurry to knock on his door to tell him or apologize for this serious miscarraige of justice!.

Eddie Yu

javaboy wrote: »

Please stick to the facts when posting. There is no proof that she was coerced by anyone to tell lies.

This statement is a clear indication of the ignorance of the public in these type of cases due to the infamous "in camera" rule. Also there is no proof that she was not coached by anyone. There can be no doubt but that the young lady would have had so called "experts" giving social work and psychological reports to the court.

Eddie Yu.

charliesboots

Eddie Yu wrote: »

There can be no doubt but that the young lady would have had so called "experts" giving social work and psychological reports to the court.

Eddie Yu.

How can there be no doubt that social workers or psychological reports given to the Court?

Have you seen the transcripts?

Zulu

two first-time posters...


...well I never!

javaboy

Eddie Yu wrote: »

This statement is a clear indication of the ignorance of the public in these type of cases due to the infamous "in camera" rule.

No it's not an indication of any ignorance due to the "in camera" rule or otherwise. It is a simple direction to posters on this site to avoid posting things that may cause legal trouble.

Also there is no proof that she was not coached by anyone.

It doesn't work that way.

There can be no doubt but that the young lady would have had so called "experts" giving social work and psychological reports to the court.

Probably given her age and the nature of the case. That does not amount to coercing her to tell lies.

My original direction still stands.

Thanks

Eddie Yu

charliesboots wrote: »

How can there be no doubt that social workers or psychological reports given to the Court?

Have you seen the transcripts?

No need to. Experience and having been in the same position as Mr Hannon and having gone through a £5,000,000 Inquiry into false accusations of child sexual abuse conducted by the Fitness to Practise Committee of the Medical Council is a good teacher.

Eddie Yu

charliesboots

Eddie Yu wrote: »

No need to. Experience and having been in the same position as Mr Hannon and having gone through a £5,000,000 Inquiry into false accusations of child sexual abuse conducted by the Fitness to Practise Committee of the Medical Council is a good teacher.

Eddie Yu

Huge difference between a tribunal of inquiry and a criminal trial.

There was no psychologist called at the trial or assessment of the girl.

The DPP took the decision to prosecute on her word alone despite the continued denial of Mr. Hannon himself as he explained on Gerry Ryan this morning.