R v McMahon (Darren Joseph)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Stephens LJ |
| Judgment Date | 05 October 2017 |
| Neutral Citation | [2017] NICA 58 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 05 October 2017 |
1
Neutral Citation: [2017] NICA 58 Ref: STE10406
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
05/10/2017
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_________
THE QUEEN
-v-
DARREN JOSEPH McMAHON
________
Before: Morgan LCJ, Stephens LJ and O’Hara J
________
STEPHENS LJ (delivering the judgment of the court)
Reporting restriction, anonymization and introduction
[1] By virtue of section 1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, as
amended by section 48 and Schedule 2 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence
Act 1999, no matter relating to the complainant shall, during her lifetime, be
included in any publication if it is likely to lead members of the public to identify
her. As a consequence we will not identify the complainant by name and we will
not identify by name a number of individuals who gave evidence at the trial.
[2] Darren Joseph McMahon, (“the applicant”) applies pursuant to section 16(2)
of the Criminal Appeal (NI) Act 1980 (“the 1980 Act”) for an extension of time in
which to lodge an application for leave to appeal against his conviction on
17 January 2014, at the conclusion of a trial with a jury before Her Honour Judge
Loughran at Dungannon Crown Court and by a unanimous jury verdict, on one
count of rape which offence was committed on 3 March 2012. By virtue of section
16(1) of the Criminal Appeal (NI) Act 1980 notice of an application for leave to
appeal against conviction is required to be given within 28 days from the date of the
conviction. That statutory requirement is an aspect of the principle of finality, see
R v Guinness [2017] NICA 47 and R v Smith [2013] EWCA Crim 2388. The notice in
this case was given on 7 February 2017, not 28 days, but rather just over three years
from the date of the applicant’s conviction. The application for an extension of time
was considered and refused by the single judge, Gillen LJ, applying the principles
set out at paragraph [8] of the judgment of this court in R v Brownlee [2015] NICA 39.
The appellant now renews his application for an extension of time to this court.
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