Violent offender who raped his former partner while deprived of his liberty appeals against sentence

An unrepentant offender who raped his former partner during a prison ordeal has appealed his sentence, arguing that showing “inciting” videos he made of his victim before the attack to a jury would “add fuel to the fire” and deny him a fair trial.

The 48-year-old defendant, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, was found guilty of rape at his Midlands home on August 7, 2018. The jury unanimously found him guilty following a trial at the Central Criminal Court in Tullamore, Co Offaly, in February.

He had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman and causing her harm, and was found guilty by a jury of depriving the woman of her liberty on the same occasion in an earlier trial in 2022. The man has several previous convictions, including for assault.

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He was sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape and to four and a half years in prison for assault and deprivation of liberty, with the last year suspended.

In the videos, viewed by the three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal on Friday, the woman says: “He hits me, abuses me, everything… You hit me,” in response to the man’s demand: “Tell everyone what’s wrong with you. Tell everyone.” He is also heard saying: “Do you see that door there, bye”… “Show me the marks on your neck where I grabbed you by the neck? There are none.”

The woman then asks for her car keys.

A second video shows the woman lying on the ground crying.

At today’s appeal hearing, the defendant representing the man, John Byrne SC, argued that the trial judge erred in allowing the prosecution to present to the jury two videos recorded on the appellant’s phone, even though those videos were not relevant to the issue being tried.

He said the case had been opened on the basis that the prosecution claimed the woman was asleep when the alleged rape took place at 9am on the morning in question and therefore could not have consented to sexual intercourse. He said the man claimed this did not take place at all.

The recordings in question were made at 3:53 a.m. and 4:12 a.m., the lawyer said.

He pointed out that at no point did the defense attempt to limit the background evidence that was to be presented to the jury in connection with the man who had previously pleaded guilty to assault and was found guilty of false imprisonment before the 9:00 a.m. rape charge.

The lawyer said the videos show the man “goading” the plaintiff and said this was certainly “not good for the man and his activities that night.”

While the jury may be able to form a judgment about the man’s general conduct at the time, The images were taken hours before the alleged rape at 9 a.m., when the situation had apparently “calmed down” and the incidents were no longer occurring, Byrne said.

Mr Byrne said the defence challenged the admissibility of the video recordings during the trial, but the judge ultimately ruled that the recordings could be shown to the jury.

The lawyer argued that admitting the recordings as evidence inevitably meant that the man was denied a fair trial.

He said the videos contained numerous references to drug use, which had nothing to do with the jury’s decision and was “highly biased.”

He said the videos were essentially “pouring oil on the fire.”

Gerard Clarke SC, representing the State, argued that the videos were admissible primarily on credibility grounds.

“She said she woke up and saw him raping her. He said that didn’t happen. It’s a very clear issue, it’s about credibility,” the lawyer said.

The court said it would hold back on ruling on the case and announce its decision after the summer recess, which ends in October.

At an earlier hearing, it was told that the defendant and the plaintiff had been in an on-off relationship for a number of years and that on the night in question the man became agitated after seeing a text message on the woman’s phone in which she expressed her condolences to a former boyfriend on the death of his mother.

The accused attacked the woman and held her against her will in the apartment. When she later woke up, she found that the man was having sex with her.

According to the court, the entire ordeal lasted about ten hours.

The plaintiff’s victim impact statement was read to the court by Mr Clarke. She said she was “physically and emotionally assaulted” on the night and described it as a “nightmare” that she “wouldn’t wish on anyone”.

In passing sentence, Judge David Keane noted that the man continued to deny the crime and showed no remorse or attempts at reparation or rehabilitation.