A 79-year-old man jailed for life for repeatedly raping his two young daughters and sexually abusing his son has died before he was due to appeal his life sentence.
The Dublin man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was convicted in August 2010 of 87 counts of sexually assaulting and raping his two daughters when they were aged between five and 11 and sexually assaulting his son when he was aged between three and six at various locations from 1997 to 2002.
He had denied the charges.
He was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury following a seven week trial and was sentenced to life imprisonment by Mr Justice George Birmingham on 4 October 2010 for the rape of his daughters.
He was given further determinate sentences for other offences.
The Court of Appeal was told last October that although the man had come to court for his appeal against conviction, he was too ill to sit through the hearing, which was advanced by his legal team of Dominic McGinn SC and Miceál O'Connor BL.
His appeal against conviction was dismissed on all grounds last May.
Giving judgment, Mr Justice John Edwards had said the man's trial was "satisfactory" and his conviction "safe".
He was due to appeal against the severity of his sentence today.
However, Mr McGinn told the court that his client had deceased and that the sentence appeal could no longer be moved.
Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan, who sat with Mr Justice Edwards and Mr Justice Alan Mahon, said the court would strike out the appeal.
