There have been calls today for sexual abuse cases to be fast-tracked through the courts system.

The head of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, says trials should be expedited up to help make sure trauma is not prolonged for victims.

Her comments follow the recent conviction of a husband who was found guilty of raping his wife and beating her with a hammer, after she told him their marriage was over.

The man is due to be sentenced next week, but the case started months ago.

Head of the DRCC, Noleen Blackwell, says the criminal justice system needs to avoid long proceedings to limit the suffering of rape victims.

“Evidence is normally just the word of two people and whatever bit of evidence is around that,” she said.

“So in some ways you are requiring victims to carry the hurt and the injury and the story of the trauma for as long as the court case is outstanding – so one of the things we could do now is you could make these trials a priority in the way we make Commercial Court trials a priority.”