A Galway man who raped a teenage mother in her home has been jailed for nine years by Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins at the Central Criminal Court.
Francis Sweeney (34), Liam Mellowes Terrace, Bohermore, was convicted of the crime on January 31st following a seven-day trial. The jury found Sweeney guilty on three counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault of the teenage woman in September 2004, in her home in Galway city. Sweeney had denied the charges.
Mr Justice O'Higgins certified him as a sex offender and said "this was a vicious, unprovoked attack on a young girl who was particularly vulnerable".
He noted that the victim impact report "shows this is a remarkable young woman, very courageous, very brave". The report showed "she has post-traumatic stress following the horrible attack".
The judge said Sweeney had not expressed any remorse but accepted that he had not committed a crime of this nature before and had not used a weapon during "this ordeal, which was quite protracted".
He imposed a sentence of nine years in prison on the count of rape and 6½ years each on the counts of attempted rape and sexual assault.
Sweeney was one of a group of men who arrived uninvited at the victim's home for a long drinking session. He was still there the next morning and violently raped her after following her to the bathroom.
Garda Ailish Hynes told John Aylmer SC, prosecuting, that Sweeney had 45 previous convictions since 1991 before he raped the woman, including four for assault. Most of the rest were for road traffic and public order offences.
Martin Giblin SC, defending, submitted that none of his client's previous convictions related to sexual offences.