Man who anally raped woman jailed for five years

Irish Times

5 hours ago

A man who anally raped a woman on their first date, despite her telling him repeatedly he did not have her legal consent to do so, has been jailed for five years and three months.
Gary Coffey (37), formerly of Leinster Road West, Dublin, was found guilty by a jury of one count of anal rape and one count of sexually assaulting the woman at his home address in January 2023 following a
Central Criminal Court
trial in March this year.
The court heard the victim wished to keep her anonymity and did not wish for Coffey to be named. However, he is not legally entitled to anonymity as there is no link between him and the victim that could lead to her identification.
Sentencing Coffey
on Thursday, Ms Justice Karen O'Connor said the aggravating factors included that the offending took place in Coffey's home, a place where the victim had been invited and should have been safe.
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The judge noted it was 'important to remember' that consent to sexual activity can be withdrawn. She added the jury heard evidence during the trial that there was consent to certain sexual activity but not to anal sex.
The judge set a headline sentence of seven years, which she reduced to six years, having considered the mitigation and Coffey's personal circumstances. She suspended the final nine months of the sentence on strict conditions, including that Coffey place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months post-release, and backdated the sentence to when he entered custody in March.
The court heard the pair met on an online dating site and had arranged to go for drinks on the evening in question, but Coffey asked the woman to come to his house instead as he needed to shower.
Det Garda Seán Carrick told the court the pair had some drinks in Coffey's bedroom as the woman did not wish to meet his mother. They started engaging in consensual sexual activity, but Coffey said he didn't want to use a condom and instead asked the woman if he could have anal sex.
The woman refused, saying she had never done this before and had no wish to do so. They had consensual vaginal sex but Coffey kept pestering the woman to let him have anal sex with her.
The court heard the woman told Coffey he did not have legal consent to have anal sex with her, later telling gardaí she could not have been clearer in relation to her wishes. At one point, when Coffey went to the bathroom, she got dressed, but Coffey told her she couldn't leave and persuaded her to come back to bed.
While there, he anally raped her with his finger. The woman was terrified, and Coffey had his arms around her chest to the point where she felt like she was choking. She managed to escape the bed and left the house quickly.
She blocked Coffey on the dating website and WhatsApp, and when he phoned her repeatedly, she blocked his number. She contacted the rape crisis centre and gardaí shortly afterwards and was taken to a sexual assault treatment unit.
When Coffey's home was searched, gardaí found five tasers and a quantity of cannabis. He was convicted of these offences and has a total of eight previous convictions, the court heard.
In his plea of mitigation, Seamus Clarke SC, defending, said a psychological report prepared for the court indicated that Coffey potentially had a form of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in addition to mental health issues.
Mr Clarke told the court Coffey now accepts he was wrong and didn't have the woman's consent, despite the fact that the probation report concluded that while he accepts the jury's verdict, he is not accepting responsibility for the rape.