A Tipperary man has been jailed for 15 years for raping a 75-year- old widow after he broke into her house. Joseph Cummins (20), of St Joseph's Park, Nenagh, was found guilty in January by a jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Limerick of raping and anally raping the woman in May 2005.
He was also convicted of burglary of her home but was found not guilty by direction of the court of threatening to kill her on the same occasion.
Mr Justice Paul Carney was told by the victim's daughter and granddaughter that when he was being led out of court in Limerick after his conviction, Cummins turned to them saying: "This is not over yet."
They said he then thumped the jury box as he passed it while prison officers used an envelope to shield his eyes to stop him from staring at the victim and her family.
Mr Justice Carney said this threat by Cummins led him to consider imposing a life sentence and he noted that the Court of Criminal Appeal had recently shown a greater inclination to uphold a discretionary life sentence. He said that he would not impose a life sentence in view of Cummins's age as that could mean he could find himself serving 55 years or more. He was reluctant to expose Cummins to the risk of having to serve 55 years but by coupling his sentence with post-release supervision, it would keep him under control for 25 years.
In the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday, Mr Justice Carney imposed two concurrent terms of 15 years each for rape and anal rape, and five years for burglary. The 15- year terms are to start at the expiration of an 18 month-sentence Cummins is now serving. He declared Cummins a sex offender and ordered that he undergo 10 years of post-release supervision.
Timothy O'Leary, defending, said Cummins came from a disadvantaged background and was diagnosed in childhood as suffering from attention deficit hyperactive disorder. He had come to the attention of the Garda at an early stage and most of his previous convictions involved cars, but he had none before this for crimes of a sexual nature.
Mr O'Leary said Cummins was 18 at the time of the offence and while the court might take "a dim and serious view" of the crimes, he asked that he be left with some light at the end of the tunnel.
Mr Justice Carney said Cummins had "an appalling record" but had an absolute right to contest his trial and could not be penalised for that, but by so doing he forfeited a right to the consideration given to people who pleaded at an early stage.
He said he sympathised with Cummins on his dysfunctional background and the disorder from which he suffered but could not find any factors in his favour.
The victim said in her impact statement that she had moved house after being raped and brought the armchair in which she had been attacked with her to her daughter's house where she set fire to it and wished the person who attacked her was in it.
She also said that her family only heard the full details for the first time of his attack on her at his trial. Her life had been turned upside down since Cummins raped her she and she had been getting counselling.
She said she had been independent while living alone and liked going down the town to meet friends, but she now lived in fear "every minute of every day" that he would break in again to attack her. She also said she had considered committing suicide with sleeping tablets prescribed for her.
Mr Justice Carney said it was not his normal practice to comment on Garda investigations but he would this time because Cummins's outrageous crime was "cracked by old-fashioned bobby-on-the-beat" police work.
The court heard that Cummins was on temporary release when he committed this crime.
Victim impact statement: what the 75-year-old victim said
"I lived alone and was never afraid before that. It never really bothered me if the windows and doors were open during the day.
"I was surrounded by lovely people around the same age as myself. My neighbours were very good to me. If my smoke alarm went off, my neighbours would be straight over. I have great friends in the estate.
"The house was very easy to look after and I was close to everything. If I walked through the church grounds it was only around the corner from the post office and my doctor and I was within walking distance of most of her family whom I would go to see when I could.
"I used to love going down the town and meeting friends of mine and we used to go for a cup of tea.
"The reason my life suddenly changed completely was that on May 22nd, 2005 in the early hours of the morning a man broke into my house where he raped me and robbed me in my living room.
"It was a vicious attack which has completely changed my life. I never felt afraid in my own house and I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me.
"Something like this should never happen to me or to anybody else. I was in poor health at the time. This incident seriously affected me in many ways.
"During this attack I was terrified for my safety. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I never even had a reason to call the gardaí."
The woman recounted how she had been brought to Waterford hospital after the attack and examined there by a doctor.
"This was all very embarrassing and humiliating for me. I was in a total state of shock and fear. I have been going for counselling on a regular basis since this happened. My family also have to go for counselling.
"Not only has this affected me, it has affected my whole family. All our lives have been turned upside down."
The victim said that after the attack she never returned to her old house, even to visit it, and moved home.
"Shortly after the attack we brought the armchair that I was raped in to [ one of] my daughter's house. My daughters made up a life-size dummy and put it in the armchair. They then set fire to the armchair. I kept wishing that it was the man that did this to me was in the chair going up in flames.
"I am now terrified every moment of every day. I can't relax in my own home. I am terrified that someone is going to break in to my house again.
"I keep checking that the doors are locked even though I know that they are. I keep hearing noises in the house and I ring my daughter to come in and check that everything is okay. I can't sleep at night and I am having terrible nightmares that he is going to come back again. The night this attack happened to me I got sick in the sink. I cleaned up after myself.
"I had a box of sleeping tablets in my hand which I picked up from somewhere. I sat there thinking to myself would I be better off taking them and for my family to find me dead rather than me having to tell them what had happened to me and for them having to go through all this.
"I don't leave the house any more now. I don't go down the town like I used love doing because I'm afraid of meeting people. I don't go and visit friends any more because I'm afraid to go out. I feel trapped in my house.
"I don't like where I'm living now because it's all young people that live there and I have no friends near me.
"I never told my family exactly what had happened to me on the night of the attack and they only heard the full details on the day I gave my evidence in court. That was very hard for both me and my family.
"All I want to do now is to put all this behind me, if I can, and put my life back together and live out the rest of my life as best I can."