Women should feel safe when out on their own, a woman has told a court as a teenager was sentenced to 18 months’ detention for sexually assaulting her while she was walking in a popular woodland amenity near Kanturk in north Co Cork.
She told Cork Circuit Criminal Court her life had changed significantly since she was sexually assaulted by the then-16-year-old on June 6th, 2024, at Island Wood, near Newmarket.
“This assault interrupted my life at a time when I was most happy and forced me to live with a level of caution and guardedness I didn’t ask for. What happened to me that day has changed how I see the world and how I see myself,” she said.
“I should have felt safe, as any woman is entitled to. I’ve lost my love of walking and lost my local amenity too, when someone mentions the Island Wood, it sends shivers down my spine ... When I am on my own in public places, I am constantly on edge and always watching out.
READ MORE
“This was not just an attack on me physically, but an attack on my sense of safety, trust and peace of mind ... What happened to me was serious, harmful and undeserved. All women deserve to feel safe and respected.”
Det Garda Noelle McSweeney, of the Cork County Protective Services Unit, said the woman had been walking on her own at Island Wood at about 7pm when she noticed the teenager walking ahead of her slowly, making her think he was waiting for her to catch up with him.
She became concerned and waited until he came to a fork in the woodland path when he went straight on and she veered off on to another path.
She spotted the teenager approaching and rang her boyfriend just before the accused lunged at her and sexually assaulted her. He tried to push her into a hedge but she managed to fight him off.
She made her way back to the car park where she met another woman who assisted her.
Det Garda McSweeney said gardaí identified several cars that were at Island Wood at the time, including one belonging to the accused’s mother.
The teenager admitted being there but denied engaging with anyone. Gardaí obtained a sample of his DNA, which matched DNA left on the woman’s clothing.
Jane Hyland SC, defending, pleaded for leniency, saying her client pleaded guilty, had no previous convictions and, while probation and psychiatric reports suggested he had difficulty accepting responsibility, he had expressed remorse in a letter to the woman.
Judge Dermot Sheehan noted that a psychiatric report suggested the accused was on the autism spectrum and needed therapeutic support. The judge accepted the teenager had insight into his offending.
However, Judge Sheehan noted the psychiatric report observed that the teenager exhibited a hyper-masculine ideology as part of his identity and the psychiatrist had concerns that he was at serious risk of engaging in further sexually inappropriate behaviour.
The judge noted the offence itself involved a significant level of violence and, notwithstanding the accused’s guilty plea, he believed the seriousness of the offence must be marked by a custodial term.
He sentenced him to three years’ detention, but suspended the final 18 months on certain conditions, including that he must be supervised by the probation service and be named on the Garda’s sex offenders register for four years.
