A Galway man who sexually assaulted two women asleep in bedrooms following a farewell party they had hosted in his honour was sentenced to eight months in prison yesterday at Galway District Court.
Des Nelson (44), of Pearse Avenue, Mervue, Galway, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting both women at an apartment block in another part of the city on July 13th last year.
Garda Gerard Murphy told the court that Nelson had been living in an apartment in the same block as his victims.
On July 12th last year he met one of the women at the entrance to the apartment block and told her he would be moving out shortly.
She invited him up to her apartment, which she shared with another woman, for a a farewell drink. He arrived a short time later, accompanied by his brother and a friend from Australia.
The five started drinking, consuming a number of bottles of wine and in the early hours of the following morning Nelson's brother and Australian friend left.
Both women went to bed in their separate bedrooms having consumed a good deal of wine.
The court was told that both women thought the other had told Nelson to leave, and that the other was still awake and not in bed.
Both women, who were present in court, told of how Nelson had assaulted them sexually as they slept in separate bedrooms. He had laughed when his first victim woke up to find him in her bed trying to have sex with her. She had screamed at him to get out.
Nelson left her bedroom and went to the other woman's bedroom, where he also sexually assaulted her. Both women admitted they were in a deep sleep due to the amount of wine they had consumed. One woman said they barely knew the accused, and he had only been in their flat once before.
Judge Mary Fahy explained to both women that up until this Nelson could not be identified in the media, but that he could now be named once convicted.
She said the only thing in his favour was the fact that he left when told to do so.
"He did so laughing," one of the women replied.
Judge Fahy said Nelson did not think he was doing anything wrong because when he was told to get out of one bedroom, he went into the other bedroom to the other woman.
Defence solicitor Olivia Traynor said Nelson no longer lived in the apartment block. She said he was unemployed.
Judge Fahy said Nelson had taken full advantage of the hospitality extended to him by both women. Imposing a four-month sentence for the first sexual assault and a four-month sentence to run consecutively for the second, she told both women not to be so trusting in future.
She also ordered Nelson to pay €120 witnesses' expenses to both women, who had been in court all day.