Latest news with #McAnaw
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- The Irish Sun
‘I'm glad he's not on the streets', says victim as convicted rapist who threatened 3 female journalists is jailed
A CONVICTED rapist who threatened and harassed three female journalists has been jailed for 11 years. Mark McAnaw, 53, refused to enter a bond before a sitting of Advertisement After Judge Pauline Codd had outlined the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence, McAnaw's counsel Rebecca Smith BL said her client did not wish to enter the bond as he found the conditions 'onerous'. As a result, the judge imposed the full 11-year sentence. Judge Codd also ordered that McAnaw should have no contact either directly or indirectly with the women, should not approach them, go within 10 miles of their homes and workplaces or communicate with them for life. McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Advertisement Read more in News The court heard McAnaw repeatedly sent the three women emails and messages of a violent and sexually threatening nature, which escalated to him threatening to put a 'bullet' in one of them. He also referred to himself as an ' He also turned up at the offices of the Sunday World on Talbot Street and, when refused entry, he went to a cafe across the road. When gardai approached him there, McAnaw was in the process of writing an email to Ms Tallant. Advertisement Most Read in The Irish Sun McAnaw is currently detained in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). McAnaw does not accept his diagnosis of schizophrenia and has declined to take medication, the court was told. His previous convictions include the rape of a student in October 2010, for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2012. PREVIOUS CRIMES McAnaw also has a 1989 conviction for kidnapping and convictions for assaults causing actual bodily harm from a court in Northern Ireland in 2011. He also has a conviction for aggravated assault after attacking a woman in her home in April 2018, for which he received a sentence of eight years and four months in June 2023. Advertisement This sentence was backdated to 2018 when he went into custody, with the final 16 months suspended for 16 years on strict conditions. McAnaw was released from custody on this sentence in July 2023 – one month before the harassment of the three Sunday World journalists took place. VICTIMS' REACTION Reacting outside court, Ms Reynolds said she was "really shocked and quite happy with the outcome". She added: "I came here today expecting two years, worried that maybe he'd be out on the streets again today, but I'm relieved now at least we won't have to think about it now for at least five years. Advertisement "I think the judge saw what a danger he is to Irish women and applied an appropriate sentence. I'm really grateful to the guards, I think they did a great job securing this conviction. I would ask the question why someone like this is free to harass women in the first place, but hopefully it's something we don't have to think about for a long time." Ms Reynolds continued: "I don't think that's really acceptable that I have to go to work and think about somebody sitting at home, fantasising about what they are going to do to me, or put a bullet in my head like this man threatened. "It's strange to see yourself described as a victim and I'm conscious today that this man has victims out there that went through the most horrific crimes you could commit against women. For all of our sakes, I'm glad he's not on the streets." 'SICK MAN' Ms Brunker added: "It's been very scary to have somebody threaten to kill you. He's a sick man and I'm very grateful that the judge was empathetic to our case and the women in Ireland. Advertisement "It's an amazing day, I'm just very grateful that we are going to see him put away for a long time as he is a very dangerous man. "The sentence was very strong. Not everybody is as lucky as we were today, but it doesn't change the fact that he is a very dangerous man. He's where he needs to be right now." 1 Mark McAnaw has been jailed for 11 years. Credit: Collect image through journalist
Extra.ie
5 days ago
- Extra.ie
Amanda Brunker 'numb and exhilarated' as stalker jailed
Broadcaster Amanda Brunker has broken her silence after a convicted rapist who threatened and harassed three female Sunday World journalists was sentenced to 11 years behind bars. Mark McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to the harassment of Nicola Tallant, Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds on various dates in August 2023. Mother-of-two Amanda, who was in court on Thursday as 53-year-old McAnaw was led away in handcuffs, spoke to directly after sentencing, saying she feels both 'numb and exhilarated' at the outcome of what was a harrowing ordeal. Amanda Brunker. Pic: Collins Courts Journalist and popular Irish personality's seven-year stalking nightmare began back in 2017 when, unbeknownst to her, Mr McAnaw developed a dangerous fixation on her from his jail cell, where he was serving a lengthy term for a violent kidnapping, rape and assault of a woman. McAnaw has a litany of previous convictions, which include a conviction of raping a foreign student in Donegal in October 2010. He was convicted by a jury in 2012 of orally raping and sexually assaulting the student. He was sentenced to nine years in prison for this offence. Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds. Pic: Collins Courts McAnaw also has a 1989 conviction for kidnapping and convictions for assault causing actual bodily harm from a Derry court in 2011. He also attacked a woman in her home days after they had gone on a date together in April 2018. In this incident, he was armed with a large kitchen knife when he forced his way into a woman's home. McAnaw received an eight-year, four-month sentence for this in June 2023, backdated to 2018, when he went into custody. Amanda Brunker. Pic: Collins Courts It was during the 2018 prison term that McAnaw's obsession with Amanda began to ferment. 'He was in jail already for a really violent rape and kidnapping,' Amanda told 'And when he was in jail, he was reading my column in The Sunday World, and he developed a fixation on me and two other journalists at the paper.' Upon his release, McAnaw's jail obsession followed him into the real world, where he actively sought out Amanda and initiated contact, sending her sexually explicit and threatening messages on social media. 'He started sending me messages through Facebook, and they were very, very explicit messages,' she said. 'He was threatening to kill me, saying he wanted to rape me and sending me other threats of what he was going to do to me through private message on Facebook. So, yeah, he's a really, really dangerous man and he is a threat to all women, not just me,' Amanda told us. Amanda once again immediately reported the messages, and gardai quickly identified Mr McAnaw. 'It was terrifying. It was all kind of surreal, as in you think 'how can this be happening?'' An extrovert by nature, Amanda said the most terrifying part of the entire seven-year ordeal was that she had no idea who this man was or, more pertinent, what he actually looked like. 'And that was the most terrifying thing, because, you know, he was protected because of GDPR and there was no photograph of him anywhere,' she said. 'Nobody could give me a photograph. I couldn't give a photograph to show my kids. I couldn't show my family or my friends to say 'hey this is somebody we need to look out for'. 'There was only one photograph of him from a grainy CCTV image taken from a cafe that was posted on Facebook, and I had no clue how old it was. I think it was about 20 years old. But you wouldn't recognise him. He could have been standing beside me and I wouldn't have even known, which was terrifying.' As a result of daily facing an unknown assailant, Amanda is now calling for the mandatory release of mug shots of all dangerous offenders. 'There is innocent until proven guilty and all that. But this person is most definitely not innocent. And I had no way of knowing what he looked like. So yeah, if someone is found guilty and sent to jail for crimes like this, they should have their mug shots out there for all the world to see.' As a result of living in perpetual fear, Amanda, not knowing where danger lurked, said she had to change her routine and even curtailed her social engagements. 'I gave a statement about him back ages ago, and then he got convicted for something else,' said Amanda. But if she had thought her predator had been stopped in his tracks, her worst fears were very soon to be once again realised. 'So then I was horrified when I saw messages from him again in August of 2023. He started messaging me again publicly on Facebook. And I just knew this guy just wasn't going to stop.' Amanda once again notified the authorities, who she says acted immediately to ensure McAnaw was apprehended before he could seriously harm Amanda or any other woman whom he set his sights on. 'This is the mad thing that there's nothing in place that you don't have to be notified when the predator is back out.' Upon his release, McAnaw upped his attempts to make physical contact with Amanda. 'He had already done another three and a half years in jail, and then when he came back out again, he was back sending me messages and trying to get in contact with me. He was asking people where I lived, he was trying to get my number. It was very unnerving.' Thanks to a combination of Amanda's indefatigable nature and her persistence not to be victimised, the professionalism of the gardai and the severity of the courts system, Amanda said she finally got to face down her stalker in person. 'I had to walk by him in court, and that was very, very unnerving. He is exceptionally, exceptionally dangerous. And I've been told that he is definitely one of the most dangerous that they've seen in recent times. 'So, like it's unnerving, but I have to take all the positives out of it, and I'm trying to, because I have to be. You just can't keep living in fear, and I have to try and get on with things. But you know, today was, it was such a lovely feeling to know that he is locked up.' She added: 'Before the sentencing, I felt numb, I felt sick, I felt enormous trepidation because I just didn't know, for how much longer, you know, was he going to get out for time served? Was he going to get a lenient sentence? 'So yeah, I feel very lucky, and I know that there are, there are other cases and other people who haven't been as lucky. And I'm very aware of that.' Having come through her nightmare, Amanda said that she would wholeheartedly encourage anyone in a similar situation to summon the strength and see the judicial process through, no matter how daunting or isolating it may feel. 'You have to try, try, try. No matter how hard it is, you just have to keep going and getting up and putting one foot in front of the other and keep on going.' And as for Amanda, true to her social butterfly form, she is out tonight for a fear-free celebratory tipple. 'I'm going out to meet friends tonight, for a drink, or perhaps two,' she said.
Sunday World
5 days ago
- Sunday World
Convicted rapist who harassed three Sunday World journalists jailed
Mark McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to the harassment of Ms Tallant, Ms Brunker and Ms Reynolds on various dates in August 2023. Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds speaking to media following the sentence hearing of Mark McAnaw in the circuit court in Dublin. Photo: Collins Courts A convicted rapist who threatened and harassed three female Sunday World journalists has been jailed for 11 years. Mark McAnaw (53) refused to enter a bond before a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court which would have suspended the final 12 months of the 11-year sentence imposed for the harassment of Nicola Tallant, Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds. After Judge Pauline Codd had outlined the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence today, McAnaw's counsel Rebecca Smith BL said her client did not wish to enter the bond as he found the conditions 'onerous'. As a result, the judge imposed the full 11-year sentence. Judge Codd also ordered that McAnaw should have no contact either directly or indirectly with the women, should not approach them, go within 10 miles of their homes and workplaces or communicate with them for life. McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to the harassment of Ms Tallant, Ms Brunker and Ms Reynolds on various dates in August 2023. Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds speaking to media following the sentence hearing of Mark McAnaw in the circuit court in Dublin. Photo: Collins Courts The court heard McAnaw repeatedly sent the three women emails and messages of a violent and sexually threatening nature, which escalated to him threatening to put a 'bullet' in Ms Reynolds. He also referred to himself as an 'IRA Top Boy'. He also turned up at the offices of the Sunday World on Talbot Street and, when refused entry, he went to a cafe across the road. When gardai approached him there, McAnaw was in the process of writing an email to Ms Tallant. McAnaw is currently detained in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). McAnaw does not accept his diagnosis of schizophrenia and has declined to take medication, the court was told. His previous convictions include the rape of a foreign student in Donegal in October 2010, for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2012. McAnaw also has a 1989 conviction for kidnapping and convictions for assaults causing actual bodily harm from a court in Northern Ireland in 2011. He also has a conviction for aggravated assault after attacking a woman in her home in April 2018, for which he received a sentence of eight years and four months in June 2023. This sentence was backdated to 2018 when he went into custody, with the final 16 months suspended for 16 years on strict conditions. McAnaw was released from custody on this sentence in July 2023 – one month before the harassment of the three journalists took place. Mark McAnaw News in 90 Seconds - 5th June 2025 Ms Smith said her client instructs that he found it difficult to abide by the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence imposed in 2023. A handwritten letter from McAnaw was also handed to the court, which Judge Codd described as 'concerning'. Judge Codd noted that social media and online communication makes it easier to target journalists and others in public facing roles. The judge noted women in the public eye are often targeted online and subjected to 'base and lewd threats and comments', which accelerated with the advent of social media. Judge Codd said it is important that 'in a democracy, free speech and freedom of press must be rightly defended' and an aggravating feature of the case was the targeting of female journalists with 'threats of a highly graphic nature'. The judge said general deterrence was necessary and that the 'message goes out' that there are criminal laws which can and will be enforced. She said it was aggravating that McAnaw harassed the women in the context of their work, which potentially impacted their constitutional rights to earn a living and bodily integrity. Judge Codd said the court also had to consider the issue of protection of the public, given McAnaw's history of violent offending, the evidence of his failure to follow medical advice and his consumption of illicit substances, including cannabis. The judge said the need to protect the public 'can't be an end in itself', adding that preventative detention is not permitted by law in Ireland. But Judge Codd said the protection of society was a factor alongside other sentencing principles that the court could have regard to when constructing a proportionate sentence. She added that the fact that 'an offender is a danger to public, which is borne out by evidence, can justify a sentence towards the higher end of the scale'. The judge noted McAnaw's mental health difficulties and that he declines to take anti-psychotic medication 'reserved for most serious cases of schizophrenia'. The judge said McAnaw also has a history of substance misuse and inconsistent past engagement with community mental health services. The judge said McAnaw is assessed at high risk of violent and sexual re-offending. She said the court would give no discount on the headline sentence for his mental health issues, as he had contributed to them by declining to follow medical advice and by taking illicit substances. Judge Codd said the escalating nature of the messages sent was aggravating and, in relation to Ms Reynolds, these included a threat to kill. The judge said while the offences occurred over a short period of time, this had less weight due to McAnaw's status as a violent offender, which would have exacerbated the concern felt by the injured parties. Judge Codd noted the mitigation including McAnaw's guilty pleas and his background. She outlined a global sentence of 11 years, with the final 12 months to be suspended on strict conditions for five years. These included that McAnaw remain under probation supervision for five years, comply with his medical regime, refrain from the use of illicit substances and make available any internet-enabled devices when requested by gardai. The judge backdated the sentence to August 2023, when McAnaw went into custody. Ms Brunker and Ms Reynolds were both present in court when the sentence was imposed. Probation and forensic psychological reports were handed to the court. Ms Smith told the court her client does not accept the diagnosis of a mental illness and has remained drug-free since entering the CMH in October 2023. Judge Codd commended the three women for their resilience and courage throughout the process and wished them well for the future. She directed McAnaw to appear at a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court later this month in relation to the breach of conditions imposed as part of a suspended sentence.
