DIY TV rapist appeal is refused

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6957177.stm

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Northern Ireland's High Court has refused an application by a convicted rapist to have his appeal re-opened.

Oswald Brown, 38, was jailed for six years for the rape of a student he met in a city centre pub in December 1999.

The former television DIY expert from east Belfast went on hunger strike twice in protest at his conviction, once in jail and after being released.

He had claimed his victim consented to sex, but this was rejected by a jury at his original trial in 2001.

On Tuesday, the three High Court judges refused to reopen his appeal.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr said there was no reason to suppose that the jury, which unanimously convicted Brown, had been misled by the trial judge's remarks about consent and recklessness.

Speaking outside the court, the father of two - released in 2006 - said he would go on hunger strike again: "I will never give up because I am innocent."

Brown had a media profile before his conviction having appeared in a BBC Northern Ireland television DIY programme.

That profile grew after he was jailed when he went on hunger strike to protest his conviction. His original appeal was heard and dismissed in 2002.