No absolute assurance that charges will not be pressed - rape centre CEO

The Irish student who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a Maltese man was never told "absolutely" that no charges would be brought against her alleged assailant, the chief executive officer of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, said.

Contacted by The Times, Ms O'Malley-Dunlop said the 20-year-old Dublin girl heard from the gardai (the Irish police) there was a possibility that the case might not go ahead and that the alleged assailant might enjoy diplomatic immunity.

Massimo Muscat, the son of Malta's Ambassador to Ireland, Richard Muscat, was questioned by the Irish police earlier this year after Christina Leech-Cleary claimed he sexually assaulted her last October.

The ambassador resigned last Saturday and the Foreign Affairs Ministry formally waived diplomatic immunity with regard to his 35-year-old son.

Ms Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop said the student reported the case back in October and had said the issue was dealt with very well by the Irish police. But she later "heard" from the police that there was the possibility the case would be dropped because the alleged assailant was covered by diplomatic immunity as he was the son of a diplomat.

"Obviously, something anecdotal was said to her, but there was nothing absolute in what she was told," Ms O'Malley-Dunlop said.

She continued that the girl was so aggrieved by this development she decided to waive her right to anonymity and went to the media. Ms Leech-Cleary broke her silence to the Irish newspaper The Evening Herald last week, expressing anger that her alleged attacker would not be prosecuted.

The case was in no way closed at the time and the file has been forward to the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide whether to press charges.

Mr Muscat told The Times the Irish police had told his son they would advise the DPP that there "were no serious grounds because the incident was minor". The Irish police had indicated he was unlikely to be prosecuted.