George Gibney faces justice after 50 years of evasion

Facing the jury from a bench across court 20 in the Criminal Courts of Justice, with Judge Mícheál O’Higgins sitting to his right, former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney finally faced the sharp end of justice he had evaded for decades. A powerhouse in Irish swimming throughout the 1970s and 1980s, leading teams to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Seoul in 1988, the dishevelled 77-year-old sat still and expressionless as the court registrar read out the verdicts found , who agreed he had assaulted and abused girls at various locations in the State. Gibney was found guilty of sexually abusing four girls in the 1970s and 1980s in 39 out of 40 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape. The jury acquitted him on one count of indecently assaulting one of the complainants on a date between 1976 and 1977. After the verdict was read out and the sentencing date set for July 29th, there was an outpouring of emotion as witnesses, some now in their 60s, and their families embraced each other along the corridors of the building, having lived with the assaults since their early days in school. Some of the charges for which Gibney was found guilty reached back 50 years, when the women were girls aged between eight and 15-years-old. Never animated, nor vocal except when he pleaded at the beginning of the trial, he appeared in frail condition as he hauled himself to his feet each day using the bench rail to lever his body. While he could not be named throughout the trial due to the nature of the charges, with the guilty finding he lost that anonymity. After the verdict, Swim Ireland paid tribute to the women’s “immense courage in coming forward” and thanked them for “their resilience throughout a long and difficult process”. In a statement, the organisation said the offences “took place at a time when Irish swimming lacked the governance and safeguarding structures that exist today. We are deeply saddened not only that these crimes occurred, but that it took so long for this case to reach a conclusion.” It said the victims’ bravery “has been central to the transformation of our sport’s safeguarding culture”. As he was wheeled out of the court, the women who had brought so much agency and courage throughout the trial, stood sobbing and bearing witness to justice finally delivered, the words of O’Higgins ringing in his ears. “Mr Gibney, I remand you in custody until your sentencing.