
Brand New Podcast Series tells the extraordinary story of a couple jailed in Ireland for a crime that never happened
from
RT Documentary on One and RT Investigates
First Conviction
Narrated by Ruth Negga
Watch trailor here.
First Conviction sees the award winning RT Documentary On One team and the acclaimed RT Investigates unit come together for the first time to produce a revealing new six-part podcast series and TV documentary, which tells the extraordinary story of a couple jailed in Ireland for a crime that never happened.
In 2016 a couple are accused of a crime against their daughter and put on trial, the first of its kind, for a crime they maintain never even happened. They're found guilty and jailed, and the DPP eventually abandoned the case. Now facing the power of the State, the couple continue to fight for justice through the courts.
The RT team interviewed the couple at the heart of this story for more than a year and spoke with legal teams and experts to understand fully what the family have gone through over nearly 10 years.
The first two episodes of this gripping new podcast series are now available on all podcast platforms, with new episodes dropping each week.
The series, narrated by Oscar nominated actor Ruth Negga, will also be broadcast on RT Radio 1 at 6.30pm each Wednesday, beginning on 8th October.
At the conclusion of the six-part podcast series, a new TV documentary by the RT Investigates team on November 12th on RT One and RT Player will reveal the far-reaching consequences of the case and how the system got it so wrong.
This story tells of a family where the parents are accused of seriously harming their child. From the outset, they offer an explanation for their daughter's injury but, after bringing their child to hospital, medical staff form a different view. State agencies become involved and the couple are charged by Garda in 2017 with various offences, including child cruelty.
For over three years, they await trial, trying to maintain a normal family life. At all times, they plead their innocence, but they feel everyone is turning against them, including their own community. When their case reaches court, the couple are both convicted in 2019, something they never thought possible. News of their conviction makes headlines everywhere. They're each taken to prisons in different parts of Ireland and their children are placed in the care of relatives, with state agencies monitoring.
In prison, the couple begin to mount an appeal but things move slowly. They spend more than two years in prison before their appeal case is heard - at which point the judge finds their convictions to be unsound, they are released on bail and a new trial is ordered. When the family reunites, the young children don't recognise their mother and father.
Over the next couple of years, there are many court hearings, a second, inconclusive trial, and all the while, this couple continue to say they never injured their child. Then, with new expert medical evidence supporting the couple's story, the state decides to withdraw all charges against them. The DPP enters a nolle prosequi - meaning they are no longer pursuing a prosecution and although they say nothing further will happen. It leaves the family in a legal limbo.
But this couple want more - they are still before the Irish courts today, fighting to officially clear their names and finally receive certificates of miscarriage of justice. Then, and only then they say will they tell their children all of what has happened to them - and that they were entirely innocent all along.
From RT Documentary On One and RT Investigates
Listen now to First Conviction: www.rte.ie/podcasts
www.rte.ie/firstconviction
ENDS
More from RTE
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
Following today's EBU Winter General Assembly in Geneva at which Israel's participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest was confirmed, RT 's pos...
04/12/2025
The ninth series of Dancing with the Stars returns to screens in early
2026 and will be proudly sponsored by Hyundai
Filling our Sunday evenings with glitz an...
03/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Celebrate 2025's top Irish sporting stars with RT Sport Awards live from RT Studios on RT One and RT Player
RT pays tribute to Ror...
02/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Hollywood blockbusters The Banshees of Inisherin, Barbie and Oppenheimer make their Irish TV debut
Tune into the classics such as Love Actual...
02/12/2025
Showcasing fresh Irish storytelling and emerging talent Storyland 2025 signals a fantastic time for Irish drama
RT and F s ireann/Screen Ireland are proud to...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
24/11/2025
Ahead of the new ninth series of Dancing with the Stars, kicking off in January 2026, RT and Shinawil have announced the arrival of three new faces to the hit ...
20/11/2025
It's the Late Late Toy Show BIG BIG Ticket Giveaway day!
It's the Late ...
20/11/2025
The How To Gael pocast gals, comedian Chris Kent and quizzer Darragh Ennis drop by for the fifth episode of The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In
In the penultimat...
20/11/2025
Tonight on RT Prime Time, Marie Crowe on how a Reading School changed her son...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
18/11/2025
DJ Carey: The Dodger starts Monday 24th November at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Pl...
14/11/2025
The Late Late Toy Show blasts off!
RT launches The Late Late Toy Show's of...
13/11/2025
Legendary actor and proud Irishman Gabriel Byrne will be in studio this week to ...
13/11/2025
Tonight's crucial Republic of Ireland World Cup qualifier v Portugal at the ...
13/11/2025
In the fourth episode of The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In the lads are joined b...
12/11/2025
RT Choice Music Prize
In association with IMRO and IRMA
2 0 2 6 K E Y D A T E S
Irish Album of the Year 2025 Shortlist 19th January
Irish Song of the ...
12/11/2025
Parents jailed for over two years after bringing their daughter to hospital for ...
11/11/2025
After international award wins, the much-loved children's series returns with 13 brand new episodes with some very special children and guests including Ros...
10/11/2025
76 animals. Six locations. Two Irish stars. One Pet Mobile.
From surfing dogs t...
07/11/2025
SLEIGH BELLS RING ARE YOU WINNING?
THE LATE LATE TOY SHOW BIG BIG TICKET GIVEAWAY EXCLUSIVE ACROSS RT CHANNELS
On Friday 21 November, listeners across all R...
06/11/2025
RT Announces Alex Walden as General Manager of the
RTE Concert Orchestra
Alex Walden, renowned orchestra manager, most recently for the BBC Concert Orche...
06/11/2025
Actors Steve Coogan and anna Hardwicke will be on the Late Late Show this week ...
06/11/2025
In the third episode of The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In actor Danny O'Carr...
05/11/2025
New schedule will be live on-air Monday 10 November
Brand-new Today with David McCullagh from 9am
Oliver Callan in all-new extended show from 11am to 1pm
Kie...
05/11/2025
Explore the future with Science Week on RT
Dive into a week of innovative, themed programming and content across RT television, radio and online
Includes a ...
05/11/2025
Get ready for six weeks of United FC, a brand-new, feel-good teen docuseries kic...
04/11/2025
Begins Thursday November 6 on RT One and RT Player at 10:15pm
Camogie: Inside...
03/11/2025
They've made that decision and ruined an awful lot of people's lives.
...
31/10/2025
The RT Raidi na Gaeltachta Award 2025 will be presented to journalist P il n N Chiar in at the Oireachtas na Samhna in Belfast tomorrow, Saturday 1 November,...
31/10/2025
RT lyric fm is calling for choirs across Ireland to share their festive music-m...
31/10/2025
Three awards were presented to RT Raidi na Gaeltachta broadcasters at the Oire...
31/10/2025
RT continues its proud tradition of championing Ireland's vibrant arts and cultural landscape through its RT Supporting the Arts initiative. This November...
31/10/2025
RT selects Irish independent production company to produce Christian Worship on...
30/10/2025
RT Concert Orchestra in November and December
Collaborations with RT Radio 1's Sunday Miscellany (2 December) and RT 2FM's Late Breakfast (9 Decembe...
30/10/2025
Johnny B and Johnny Smacks are back tonight for the second episode of the new se...
30/10/2025
First look of Jon Bon Jovi's interview with Patrick Kielty
Jon Bon Jovi is ...
29/10/2025
RT PUBLISHES 2024 ANNUAL REPORT
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 5.5 MILLION IN 2024
A YEAR WITH MANY SPECIAL EVENTS UEFA EUROS 2024, THE OLYMPICS AND PARALYMP...
24/10/2025
FIRST PLACE AND 5,000 LYNDA McCARTHY FOR WITNESS'
SECOND PLACE AND 4,000 ANGELA FINN FOR A SPECTRUM OF SORROW'
THIRD PLACE AND 3,000 IAN FE...
24/10/2025
RT will provide extensive coverage of the results of the Presidential Election across television, radio and online on Saturday, 25 October 2025.
Throughout th...
24/10/2025
New Coaches, New Families and New Challenges Set for Ireland's Fittest Famil...
24/10/2025
Westlife, Imelda May and Ben Elton among the guests on this week's Late Late...