A man jailed for raping a woman who became separated from her friends on a night out in Dublin has won an appeal against his conviction.
Mohamed Okda, formerly of Coolfin, Rathdowney in Co. Laois, was convicted of two counts of rape following a seven-day trial.
The woman, who’s married with children, was on a night out in Dublin city with some friends in February 2014 when she met Mohamed Okda.
She said she met him outside a pub at the end of the night when she was drink and tired.
She said she couldn't find her friends and reluctantly agreed to go back to a flat he was staying in while she tried to track them down.
Back at the flat, she claimed he forced himself on her and raped her.
Following his arrest, Okda told Gardaí the sex was consensual and she had instigated it.
He continued to dispute the jury’s verdict after he was found guilty and has now successfully appealed his conviction.
The Court of Appeal found the trial to be “unsatisfactory” and the conviction “unsafe” due to the judge’s failure to advise the jurors on an accused person’s “presumption of innocence”.
A retrial was ordered today and the question of bail will be dealt with next week.
*Reporting by Frank Greaney
