Man loses appeal over sex with girl he met at loyalist bonfire

Judges in the Court of Appeal today rejected claims the guilty verdict against Stephen Meneice was unsafe.

Meneice, 41, from Thompson House on Belfast’s Antrim Road, is serving a three-and-a-half year jail term.

Last May he was found guilty of nine sex offences against a child, committed in 2012.

The girl initially claimed there was sexual activity just once, but later made further allegations.

The appeal centred on a warning to the jury about how the girl initially denied the multiple incidents, but the Court of Appeal found no suggestion the trial judge failed to take account of inconsistencies in her evidence.