A man has been jailed for 8½ years for the rape and false imprisonment of his neighbour after they spent an evening drinking together.
The 44-year-old accused, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s anonymity, was convicted in April by a Central Criminal Court jury of rape, oral rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment at his Co Sligo home on July 18th, 2019.
Imposing sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice David Keane said the “extended nature of the ordeal” that he subjected the woman to was an aggravating factor. He said the man had offered the victim an apology and this was a “glimmer of hope” for his rehabilitation.
An investigating garda told Vincent Heneghan SC, prosecuting, during the trial that the then 24-year-old woman was introduced to the accused two months before the incident at a confirmation party and saw him outside his home on occasion.
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She had a more significant interaction with him on July 8th, 2019, during which he gave her his number and they agreed to meet and have a beer together later in his home. She contacted him that evening to tell him she was going to the shop if he wanted her to bring anything later. She got him lager and they drank together in his garden.
Secret relationship
The garda told Mr Heneghan that during the evening the woman told the man she had a boyfriend. They had “a conversation about sexual matters” and he suggested to her they have a secret sexual relationship but she “flatly refused”.
They later walked into the local town and visited two bars. They headed back to their housing estate at around 11pm.
The woman told gardaí that she agreed to go into the man’s home at that point after initially saying she did not want to. She was texting her boyfriend at the time. She said the man tried to kiss her in the sitting room, but that she waved him away.
He began to get angry and she then noticed he had locked the front door. The garda said the woman then realised she was trapped in the house and became scared.
The man kneeled down in front of her and tried to pull down her leggings while she tried to pull them back up. She tried to get up but he used his body weight to force her down. He then sexually assaulted her.
She told gardaí that she said she wanted to a cigarette in an attempt to distract the man, but he took off his trousers and told her to perform oral sex on him. She said she just zoned out as the man raped her. She said he was hurting her and she just wanted to get home.
Climbed out window
The man left the sitting room and the woman looked for a way to escape, ultimately climbing out of the sitting room window while naked and going to a neighbour for help.
The garda said the man was arrested the following July, but denied that anything had happened. Additional evidence was served in May 2020 after his DNA was found on swabs taken at the sexual assault treatment unit. He again denied having any sexual contact with the victim, but during the trial his legal team said he accepted there had been.
Eileen O’Leary SC, defending, said her client now accepts the jury’s verdicts and acknowledges that he did not take sufficient account as to whether the woman was consenting.
Mr Justice Keane said the woman had eloquently described the impact of the ordeal she was subjected to by the man and of the legal process. He noted she had experienced “periods of self-blame” regarding her “careless friendliness” towards the man. He noted the injured party’s “impressive resilience” and wished her well for the future.
The judge handed the man sentences of nine years on the rape, oral rape and false imprisonment charges and four years for sexual assault. All sentences are to run concurrently and were backdated to April 27th last, when the man went into custody.
The judge suspended the final six months of the nine-year sentence for two years on strict conditions including that the man attend a sexual offenders treatment programme while in custody, if he is deemed suitable.
Mr Justice Keane said it was “confusing” that the man had indicated through his counsel that he accepts the verdicts, but had denied the offences when speaking to the Probation Service and a psychologist. He noted that the man is assessed at medium to high risk of re-offending.