A man has had his conviction for sexually assaulting a woman, after breaking into her home, quashed over the trial judge’s instructions to the jury on the ingredients of the offence.

The 25-year-old, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, but who is originally from Azerbaijan, had pleaded guilty to burglary but not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in her home in south Dublin on June 15th, 2014.

He was found guilty by a jury of sexual assault and sentenced to three-and-a-half years imprisonment by Judge Martin Nolan on June 15th, 2018.

The man won an appeal against his conviction for sexual assault on Friday on grounds that the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury on the ingredients for the offence.

Giving judgment in the Court of Appeal, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said the victim was alone sleeping naked in bed on the night in question when she realised the man was in her bedroom.

Ms Justice Kennedy said the injured party wrapped herself in a duvet and tried to remove the man from her apartment. At one point, he started to grab at her on the legs, and she thought she was going to be raped. This constituted the sexual assault charge.

The man’s home was subsequently searched and two mobile phones belonging to the complainant were recovered from his car.

Counsel for the man, James Dwyer SC, submitted that the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury on what constitutes a sexual assault.

In instructing the jury, Mr Dwyer said the judge “erroneously” indicated that the complainant’s state of mind was relevant but it was the accused’s state of mind that was central to the jury’s deliberations.

Ms Justice Kennedy, who sat with President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham and Ms Justice Máire Whelan, said the judge’s instructions amounted to an error in principle.

The court quashed his conviction for sexual assault but did not interfere with his conviction for burglary, for which he remains in custody serving a sentence.

The question of whether there will be a retrial will be decided at a later date.