Meath man sentenced to eight years in prison for raping his wife

The court heard that the woman immediately reported the rape to the Gardaí. She left her house when the man was asleep, along with her young baby, and went straight to the local Garda station.

A doctor sentenced to eight years in prison for raping his wife “failed to understand the essential aspects and principles of consent,” a Supreme Court judge said.

Judge Tony Hunt made the remarks while handing down sentence to the 36-year-old Meath resident, who was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court on February 14, 2019 of anal rape and false imprisonment at the couple’s then home. The man had pleaded not guilty.

The court heard that the woman immediately reported the rape to the Gardaí. She left her house when the man was asleep, along with her young baby, and went straight to the local Garda station.

The man was arrested the following month and told gardaí during questioning: “I did not rape my wife. I get it for free every day. I don’t have to rape my wife.”

Judge Hunt said comments the man made to police during the investigation suggested that the man believed “marriage involved some sort of blanket consent to whatever he wanted in terms of sexual activity”.

“That is not how marriage works. Consent on a Tuesday does not mean consent on a Wednesday,” Judge Hunt continued.

The judge said there was a common thread in the sex offences cases before him, namely “extraordinary disregard for consent in sexual matters”, adding that there appeared to be “an extraordinary lack of care and respect”.

Referring to the man’s profession, Judge Hunt said the fact that someone in a caring profession “would treat someone so close to him in this way is beyond comprehension”.

Judge Hunt imposed a maximum sentence of 10 years after hearing among the aggravating circumstances that the offences took place in a domestic context. He also found that the man had failed to appreciate the jury’s verdict or the impact of the crime on his wife.

He imposed a prison sentence of nine years, with the last year of the sentence suspended under strict conditions, including that the man must not have any direct or indirect contact with the woman for an indefinite period of time unless she initiates it.

Judge Hunt also ordered the man to undergo probation services for two years following his release from prison.

A local Garda officer told James Dwyer SC, Crown Prosecutor, at an earlier sentencing hearing that at the time of the offence the man had a restraining order against the woman, but that it had expired.

She went to bed that night with the couple’s young baby and when she woke up, the defendant looked through her bedroom door and told her to come into another room.

He demanded to see the disbarment order before tearing it up and telling her that she would be punished.

The man then took the woman to another bedroom and told her to make a video call with a man. He produced a dumbbell and ordered her to take off her top, take a photo of herself and send the photo to the man.

The woman asked to be released so she could go to the bathroom, but the man refused and the woman ended up peeing her pants.

He laughed at her, insulted her and ordered her to undress and kneel on the bed before he anally raped her.

During the rape, the man said to his wife, “You should like this.” Then he told her to get dressed and make him something to eat.

He insisted that she sit next to him on the couch while he watched TV. She was still wearing her urine-soaked clothes and was afraid of soiling the furniture.

The man refused to allow the woman to change her clothes. Then he said they were going to bed and got into bed with her and the little baby.

He fell into a deep sleep, she changed her clothes, took the child, left the house and went straight to the local Garda station to file a report.

The following month, the man was interviewed by the Gardaí. He asked the Gardaí whether raping one’s wife was a criminal offence.

He claimed that he had been in a loving marriage with the woman for the past year and said all activities between them were consensual.

The man said his wife found out he was having an affair and since then he has been unable to do anything without her calling the Gardaí.

He told gardaí: “I did not rape my wife. I get this every day for free. I do not have to rape my wife.”

Under cross-examination, the Garda confirmed to defence counsel Seamus Clarke SC that the man was taking medication for a recurrent depressive disorder and had previously been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

A victim impact statement from the woman was recorded in the report. She has since left Ireland.

She said there were “no words to describe the scars he left behind.”

“No woman should have to feel so unsafe that she feels the need to run away in the middle of the night with her little baby,” she continued, adding that the man “should have protected us.”

She said she prayed to the Lord to forgive him, adding that she and her baby would “forgive him today.”

Mr Clarke submitted a booklet of character references and said the case had “brought shame on him and his family”.

Judge Hunt said the man’s family had no reason to be ashamed. “He must take responsibility for his own actions,” the judge commented.

Mr Clarke said his client had written a letter “expressing his regret” and asked the court to consider the consequences the loss of his job would have on his client.