Latest news with #MrJusticeMcDermott
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Teenage boys sentenced to six years in detention for raping girl in car at Limerick Racecourse
Two boys who raped a teenage girl in a car at Limerick Racecourse when they were aged just 13 and 15 have each been sentenced to six years in detention. A third defendant, now aged 18, who was found guilty of aiding and abetting the rapes by moving the car in which it occurred was jailed for 3½ years. The daytime attack against the girl involved humiliation and degradation, the Central Criminal Court heard. The convicted rapists and their families do not accept the verdicts of the jury and there was a heavy garda presence in court for Thursday's sentencing. READ MORE Mr Justice Paul McDermott said that had the boys – who are all cousins – been adults at the time of the offending, the headline sentence for the rape offences would have been in the range of 15 years to life imprisonment. 'This was a 16-year-old intoxicated girl in a vulnerable situation subjected to rape and sexual assault,' he said. 'She was raped one after the other by (the two boys) and in the course of these rapes, she was sexually assaulted.' The girl was repeatedly said 'no' during the assaults and further indignity and humiliation was heaped upon her by video footage being taken of the incident, the judge said. Handing down sentence, Mr Justice McDermott noted there was very little to be said in mitigation for the boys, as they have not expressed remorse or any understanding of the harm caused to the complainant. They must be sentenced as juveniles under the Children Act, in which detention is a last resort, the court heard. The judge accepted the third defendant, who aided and abetted the rapes, has taken some responsibility for his involvement but struggles to understand it. He noted they have no previous convictions and have been subject to some childhood trauma, with mental health difficulties in their families. They had a lack of understanding in the areas of sexual relations and consent, the court heard. Mr Justice McDermott sentenced the two rapists to 7½ years of detention, with the final 18 months suspended on a number of conditions, including that they engage in sexual offending programmes and have no contact with the complainant. The judge noted that part of their sentence will be served in prison. He sentenced the third defendant to five years in jail as he is now aged over 18. He suspended the final 18 months on the same conditions. The three boys stood trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork earlier this year, with two of them (now aged 16 and 17) found guilty of sexually assaulting and raping the then 16-year-old girl in a car at the racecourse on December 26th, 2022. They were 13 and 15 at the time. The third boy (now 18) was found guilty by the jury of four counts of aiding and abetting the rapes and sexual assaults following the six-week trial. The court heard he moved the car during the course of the attack. He was aged 15 at the time. He was acquitted of one count of false imprisonment. The boys denied raping the girl, telling gardaí differing versions of events, with one claiming he was in Dublin on the day in question. They all eventually claimed it was a consensual encounter. Det Garda Lisa O'Regan told Dean Kelly SC, prosecuting, that the girl was socialising with her friends at the racecourse on the day in question. She was, in her own words, 'really drunk' when she got chatting to the three boys, Mr Kelly said. The court heard she agreed to go for a walk with one of the boys because she wanted to kiss him. Instead, she found herself in a car belonging to one of the boy's fathers where she was sexually assaulted and raped by two of them. When medically examined later that evening, she was found to have extensive bleeding and bruising. She was a virgin before the attack. The complainant, now aged 18, was not in court for the sentence hearing. In a victim statement read out on her behalf by counsel, she described her fear and anxiety in the aftermath of the attack, during which she was 'begging them to get off me'. 'At the age of 16, I had my innocence stripped away from me,' she said. 'These two (boys) took what they wanted with no regrets.' She said her parents had to hear every 'vulgar' and 'gruesome' detail of what happened to her and that she will 'forever have guilt on my shoulders – not just for how it affected me, but everyone around me'.
Irish Times
7 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
‘As a father, he betrayed her': Man jailed for engaging in sex act with vulnerable adult daughter
A man who 'betrayed' his adult daughter, who has an intellectual disability, by engaging in a sexual act with her, has been jailed for eight years. The 69-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two counts of engaging in a sexual act with a protected person in Leinster on February 7th, 2023. The woman has a moderate intellectual disability and now lives in a residential care setting, the court heard. Passing sentence on Tuesday in the Central Criminal Court , Mr Justice Paul McDermott said this is a very serious offence with a maximum sentence of life in prison. READ MORE 'As a father, he betrayed her,' he said. 'These offences were committed by her father – he could do whatever he liked.' Mr Justice McDermott sentenced the defendant to nine years in prison but suspended the final year for a period of two years. He also placed the man under the supervision of the Probation Service for five years and directed him to undertake any courses it deems appropriate. The judge said the man is to have no contact with his daughter without her consent and only then under very strict supervision. He backdated the sentence to when the defendant went into custody. At a previous hearing, an investigating garda told the court the injured party is in her mid-30s and has moderate intellectual disability. The court heard the woman was given a course on sexuality, during which she disclosed that she had never shared a bed with a man before, except for her father, who had not worn a condom. Specialist interviewers from An Garda Síochána spoke to the victim and she was moved into residential care after the abuse was disclosed. The investigating garda agreed with Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, defending, that a trial date was fixed for March this year, but a guilty plea had been entered, saving the woman from having to give evidence in front of a jury. The garda also accepted that the man had no previous convictions and that his wife had passed away a number of years ago, meaning he became his daughter's main carer. A social worker gave evidence that the woman has good independent skills and is a kind and caring person who masks her emotions. She told Mr Vincent Heneghan, SC, prosecuting, that the injured party had not availed of any counselling and the abuse continues to affect her daily life.
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Irish Times
Satchwell trial jury told to consider verdict with an ‘open and independent mind'
Jurors in the trial of Richard Satchwell, who is accused of murdering his wife, have been told they must approach the case with 'an open and independent mind', despite aspects that are 'unseemly' and 'perhaps shocking'. Presiding judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott has begun charging the jury in the Central Criminal Court trial of Mr Satchwell (58), who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 45-year-old wife Tina Satchwell – née Dingivan – at their home address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork between March 19th and March 20th, 2017, both dates inclusive. The trial has heard that on March 24th, 2017, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that his wife had left their home four days earlier but that he had no concerns over her welfare, feeling she had left due to a deterioration in their relationship. The accused formally reported Ms Satchwell missing the following May but her body was not discovered for over six years, when gardaí conducting 'an invasive search' of the Satchwell home in October 2023 found her decomposed remains in a grave that had been dug underneath the stairs. READ MORE When rearrested on suspicion of murder after Ms Satchwell's body was removed from their Cork home, Mr Satchwell told gardaí that she 'flew' at him with a chisel. The Assistant State Pathologist has told the trial that Ms Satchwell's cause of death cannot be determined due to the skeletal nature of her remains. Commencing his charge to the jury on Monday afternoon, Mr Justice McDermott asked the jurors to approach the case with an open and independent mind and 'without emotion and prejudice'. 'There are aspects of this case which are unseemly and perhaps shocking,' he added. The judge said that if the jurors found things to have aroused their indignation, feelings and emotions, they had to leave these outside the door of their jury room. He asked them to approach the case in a very careful and clinical way. He said they must return a true verdict in accordance with the evidence and not with emotion, sympathy or empathy. Mr Justice McDermott said the starting position was that Mr Satchwell is presumed to be innocent of the offence of murder and it was up to the prosecution to establish that he was guilty of the offence. He explained that the standard of proof in the case was beyond a reasonable doubt, which is not a mathematical certainty but a very high standard; 'the highest standard in the administration of justice'. The judge told the jurors that they knew Mr Satchwell had not given evidence in the case and the accused was under no obligation to do so. 'In terms of determining the case it has no relevance as he has no obligation to prove anything,' the judge said. When considering the evidence in the case, Mr Justice McDermott said, the jury must take into account the evidence they have heard from witnesses, statements read into the record as well as the exhibits and 'lengthy media interviews' shown to them. 'You are confined to what you hear in the courtroom, nothing else is relevant to you.' Mr Justice McDermott is continuing his charge to the 12 jurors on Monday afternoon. Last Friday, Gerardine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the jury in her closing speech that Mr Satchwell's narrative of how his wife died after he held her off by the belt of her bathrobe was 'absolutely farcical' and had 'more holes in it than a block of Swiss cheese'. Ms Small submitted that the British truck driver had woven 'a web of deceit' and continued his 'fabricated narrative' over the years. Counsel said Mr Satchwell's objective from the very outset was 'always to put everyone off the scent' and that this was done because he had murdered his wife. In his closing address, defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC told the jurors that there was no doubt Mr Satchwell was guilty, but asked the jurors what exactly he was guilty of. He argued that although the accused had lied 'to the people of Ireland', the lies do not make him a murderer or relieve the prosecution of the burden of proving the ingredients of murder.
