A 34-year-old Galway man who was wrongly convicted of sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl has had his conviction declared a miscarriage of justice.
Michael Feichin Hannon's 1997 conviction was overturned earlier this year after the girl, Una Hardester, of Aughrismore, Cleggan, Co Galway, admitted nine years later that she had made up the allegation.
The State had opposed his application to have it declared a miscarriage of justice because it argued there was no wrongdoing by the State or any of its agents.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeal granted the certificate, describing the case as an alarming and disturbing one.
The court said Mr Hannon, who received a suspended sentence, was an innocent man.
The court heard there was a history of animosity between his family and his alleged victim's family relating to disputes between rights of way and land.
Ms Hardester's allegation of sexual assault was made in detailed terms, and was conspicuous for its graphic and coherent uses of medical and anatomical terms, the court said.
However, about nine years later she returned from the US and admitted that she had made up the allegation.
She told gardaí she did it for no other reason than 'he was one of the Hannons'.
Ms Hardester said she had lived with a 'cancerous guilt' since the event, had found God and was trying to make amends.
She added: 'I did something terribly wrong and I got away with it. Other people paid a heavy price. I want to clear his name now.'
Speaking outside the court, Mr Hannon said he was pleased and relieved that his conviction had been quashed and that the court had confirmed he suffered a miscarriage of justice.
He said he had had to live with the stigma of a conviction and he hopes that lessons could be learned and that more care would be taken in the future to ensure it did not happen again.
