Former Celtic star Paddy McCourt cleared of sexual assault after appealing conviction
dailyrecord.co.ukFormer Northern Ireland and Celtic football player Paddy McCourt has successfully appealed against a conviction for a sexual assault.
The 40-year-old, of Muff in Co Donegal, was previously found guilty after a trial in May of sexually touching a woman in a bar in Londonderry in January 2022.
Mr McCourt, who always denied the allegation, launched an appeal against the conviction at the County Court in Derry on Tuesday morning, December 5.
During a brief hearing, Rosemary Walsh, appearing for Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service, said they would be offering no evidence after experiencing difficulty with key witnesses, who previously identified McCourt. “This was a matter concerning an allegation of sexual assault against Mr McCourt, and there hadn’t been a dispute as part of the lower court proceedings that the victim was the subject of a sexual assault by one of two individuals who were at a bar and situated just behind her at the material time,” she said. “The issue in this case was identification of which of the two individuals was the person that had assaulted her.
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