George Gibney found guilty of historic abuse of girls

Former swimming coach George Gibney has been convicted of sexually abusing four young swimmers and the attempted rape of one of the girls in the 1970s and 1980s.

The jury in the trial of Gibney returned its verdicts this afternoon after over seven hours of deliberations.

The 77-year-old was originally charged with 79 counts, but pleaded guilty to five of them at the beginning of the trial.

He pleaded not guilty to a total of 73 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape of four girls in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jurors were directed to return not guilty verdicts in respect of 33 counts relating to two complainants.

Mr Justice Mícheál P. O'Higgins remanded Gibney in custody to be sentenced at the 29 July.

After the verdicts were delivered there were scenes of relief with the women hugging friends, supporters and gardaí.

More to follow..