A former musician has been jailed for five years for the rape of a woman in her home almost four years ago.
At the Central Criminal Court earlier this year, Colin ‘Ollie’ Murphy (50) was convicted of one count of rape on a date in September 2020 at a house in Dublin.
Murphy, of Wyattville Park, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin, was a member of the band HamsandwicH for 15 years until 2018, the Central Criminal Court heard. He has more recently worked as a delivery driver.
The court heard the woman wished to retain her anonymity but did not object to Murphy being identified.
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Murphy denied the allegations, telling gardaí initially that the sexual encounter was consensual.
However, defence senior counsel Patrick Gageby told the court at an earlier hearing that Murphy accepted the verdict of the jury and wished to apologise to the woman.
Mr Justice David Keane handed Murphy a seven-year sentence with the final two years suspended on strict conditions, including that he engage with relevant services.
Mr Justice Keane said the impact of the offending on the woman and the fact that the offence took place in her home were among the aggravating features of the case.
Reading her victim impact statement at an earlier hearing, the woman said parts of her life froze during the “agonising” three-and-a-half year wait for the trial.
She described experiencing feelings of anxiety, guilt and “dark thoughts”.
She said she “grieves harshly” for the relationships and family that she might have had.
She said Murphy followed her to her bedroom, a place he had never been and had not been invited, where he raped her.
She described the trial as “the most harrowing part” of her life, as she had to present her “most intimate life to a room of silent judging strangers” before waiting days to see if she was believed.
She said she carried “misplaced guilt” on her shoulders about the outcome of the trial.
“I did nothing wrong but I still have to carry this every day,” she said.
On Wednesday, Mr Justice David Keane said the victim impact statement was “powerfully effective” and described the “wide range of damaging effects” on the woman.
Mr Justice Keane set a headline sentence of eight years, which he reduced to seven years taking into account the mitigation and Murphy’s personal circumstances.
The judge noted that Murphy accepted the jury’s verdict and had apologised, but said his acknowledgment of guilt was offered “very late in the process”.
He cited a probation report which said Murphy initially deflected responsibility on to the victim, but since his conviction has expressed remorse and apologised.
Mr Justice Keane noted that the report said Murphy acknowledged that his drug use had escalated and that he was part of a peer group where the use of drugs and alcohol was normalised, but was now drug-free.
The judge said Murphy had no previous convictions and had been assessed at low risk of reoffending.
The sentence was backdated to March 7th last, when Murphy went into custody.
A local garda told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, at an earlier hearing, that the woman went to bed around 4am after a party at her home.
She woke up to a man raping her. The woman didn’t say or do anything as she was tired and intoxicated, but recognised the man as Murphy, who was an acquaintance of another person at the party.
They both fell asleep and when the woman woke around 10am, Murphy was still in the bed.
He left a few minutes later. The woman messaged some people, describing what had happened.
She broke down crying and after one of her housemates came into her room, she told him what had happened.
The woman then contacted Murphy and there was an exchange between them in which he acknowledged sex had occurred and apologised for not using a condom.
Gardaí were contacted later that day and the victim was in a distressed state when they arrived. Her phone and items of clothing were seized and the scene examined.
Murphy’s home was searched by gardaí the following day, while his phone and items of clothing were seized.
He was arrested in November 2020, and made a prepared statement to gardaí in which he said any sexual contact had been consensual.
Some of the people who attended the party gave evidence during the trial that there was no romantic, physical or emotional connection between the victim and Murphy.
A local garda agreed with Mr Gageby that his client was a figure in the Irish music industry and was working in a retail shop in 2020.
Mr Gageby said his client wished to offer an apology to the woman.
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