Details of a judgement outlining why an appeal against 10 rape convictions was dismissed by a Manx court have been released.

As last week’s Courier and iomtoday.co.im reported, William Henry Kelly, aged 46, had an appeal against 16 convictions, 10 for rape, dismissed at the Staff of Government (Appeals Division) last week by Judge of Appeal Geoffrey Tattersall and First Deemster David Doyle after a hearing that lasted for six days.

Now, newly-released documents state that Kelly had appealed against the convictions on the grounds of the conduct of his advocate, Laurence Vaughan-Williams, during the trial.

He also said that Deemster Peter Birkett’s summing up was unfair at the Court of General Gaol Delivery in May, when he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

He must serve at least 12 years in jail, three quarters of the sentence. He initially also appealed against the sentence but this was not pursued.

Kelly’s long list of claims against Mr Vaughan-Williams included an allegation that his examination of him was below standard and that he had put forward an ineffectual presentation of his case.

Kelly’s new defence team of Stephen Wood and Paul Rodgers alleged that Mr Vaughan-Williams’s examination of Kelly had been too short - lasting around six minutes - and fell far below the standard required for a fair trial.

But in response Mr Vaughan-Williams said that Kelly had been uncertain whether to give evidence and that keeping the examination short had been a deliberate tactical decision.

The appeal court ruled that Kelly’s criticisms of Mr Vaughan-Williams were not sufficient reasons to uphold Kelly’s appeal and that his criticisms made against Deemster Birkett were without merit.

None of the criticisms of Mr Vaughan-Williams's conduct succeeded or was proven.

The judgment described the case as ’challenging’ for any any defence advocate and said that Kelly had taken an active interest in all parts of the case.