Latest news with #Thomas'Tossy'Nyhan
Irish Daily Mirror
21-07-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tears in court as married father of four jailed for rape of vulnerable farmhand
A married farmer from Co Cork has been sentenced to a total of 19 years in jail for raping another man twice, but he will serve less than ten years for just one of the offences. Thomas 'Tossy' Nyhan, 60, Crookstown, Co Cork, was sentenced to 11 and a half years, with the final year suspended, for raping the man in April 2019. Nyhan, who has four children, received a second sentence of 8 and a half years for raping the man in January 2011. The rapes occurred at a location in Limerick, the court heard. As both sentences are to run concurrent to each other, Nyhan will only serve part of the longest sentence. The sentences were backdated to June 23 last, when Nyhan first entered custody. He has no previous convictions. Nyhan had contested two counts of anal rape of the victim, but he was unanimously convicted by a jury of both rapes following an 11-day trial held at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, last May. Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring had previously lifted reporting restrictions last May, allowing Nyhan be named. The judge also directed that the victim was entitled to his anonymity and ordered that he not be identified. The victim told the trial that the rapes were so painful they were like 'barbed wire' inside him. The victim wrote in a victim impact statement that there were "not words strong enough to capture the pain" he had suffered. "He (Nyhan) raped me twice. This was not a moment of confusion. It was cold, calculated and violent – he knew what he was doing – and eight years later he did it again," the man said. "This is what he chose. This is who he is. I trusted him and told him about my trauma and vulnerabilities and he controlled, degraded and violated me in the most horrific way." The man said that Nyhan spoke about his own children during one of the rapes, which the victim described as "twisted and inhumane". He said he disclosed the second rape to his GP in 2019, because, he said, he 'could not hold the weight of his abuse any longer". Later, he told Gardaí he had also been raped by Nyhan in 2011. The man told how he continues to feel like he is being watched and feels "trapped" by feelings of being "constantly sick with anxiety". 'I am a ghost of the man I used to be. I am broken, alone. I have no one, because my barriers are always up," the man said. "He (Nyhan) is a rapist and that will follow him for the rest of his life and it should." The victim encouraged others similarly affected by sexual crimes to seek help and try and bring the perpetrators to justice: 'Please hear this – standing up and speaking out is one of the most hardest things but it is powerful and life-changing.' The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week Previously, the victim asked Ms Justice Ring to impose a sentence on Nyhan that reflected his crimes: 'Let it say this matters – we matter. Please show what I lost matters. What he did matters.' The man thanked the jury "for listening and for believing me – that has meant more to me than you will ever know". When questioned by Gardaí in May 2019, Nyhan accepted sexual activity had occurred between him and the victim, yet he denied raping him. The prosecution case was presented in court by senior counsel Fionnuala O'Sullivan and barrister Lily Buckley, who were instructed by Aoife O'Halloran, Chief State Solicitor's Office, after an investigation by Gardaí attached to the National Garda Protective Services Bureau, (NGPSB), at Henry Street Garda Station, Limerick City, which deals solely with sexual crimes. During the trial, and under cross-examination by Nyhan's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, the victim agreed that he had remained in regular contact with Nyhan following the first rape in 2011. The victim described as 'lies', unfounded claims by Nyhan that he had asked the farmer for money for sex and that he had grabbed Nyhan's 'crotch' a number of times and removed his own clothes to have sex with Nyhan. The victim told Mr Nicholas: 'I told him (Nyhan) to stop, I didn't like it.' When asked by the barrister what he was doing when he alleged that Nyhan was removing his trousers and underpants, the victim replied: 'I was just scared, I just froze.' The victim described as 'bullshit' further unfounded claims by Nyhan, put by the barrister, that the victim had been in possession of 'a knife' at the time and that Nyhan 'was afraid' he'd harm himself, and that Nyhan 'pretended to go along' with sex. The victim told the court Nyhan threw him on the bed, and 'thrust' himself into the victim telling him he 'loved' him, despite the victim's pleas of 'No'. The victim told the court Nyhan's denials were 'lies'. 'It was like barbed wire... it was like hell, like something burning you,' the victim said, breaking down in tears. Nyhan's wife, Mary Nyhan, supported her husband to court every day of his trial and throughout the criminal proceedings. Before he was being led away to prison today, members of Nyhan's family cried, roared and hugged him. DNA Swabs taken by forensic Gardaí of a stain at the scene of the 2019 rape matched Nyhan's DNA profile. The judge said Nyhan had told the victim that 'he couldn't have sex' with his wife. 'Nyhan said to the victim if he had sex with him he could go home and have sex with his wife. He then took the victim into a bedroom, took off his pants and had anal intercourse.' Commenting on Nyhan, the judge said: 'He is a man without prior criminal convictions, and to all intents and purposes lived the quiet, hard-working life of a farmer.' The judge said Nyhan, who was represented by Mark Nicholas SC, Liam Carroll BL, instructed by solicitor Sarah Ryan, had acted in a 'serious and sinister' fashion. 'It is clear that Nyhan knew that the victim had not told anyone of the 2011 rape, and thus he had the confidence to rape again in 2019, assuming that the victim would stay silent again,' the judge said. In mitigation, the judge took into consideration Nyhan's age, no previous convictions, health difficulties and that he has been a hard-working family man. If you have been affected by the contents of this article, support is available from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre at 1800 778888 or Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Sunday World
23-06-2025
- Sunday World
Farmer who twice raped man he knew for years ‘violated' victim in ‘most horrific way'
The man said that Thomas 'Tossy' Nyhan spoke of his children during the incident which he said he found to be 'twisted and inhumane'. A man who was twice raped by a man he had known for many years has stated that there are 'not words strong enough to capture the pain' he has suffered. Thomas 'Tossy' Nyhan (60) from Crookstown, Co Cork, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Limerick last May. He had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape of the man in January 2011 and April 2019. Nyhan is a married farmer who has four children. He has no previous convictions. The victim, whose victim impact statement was read into the record by Fionnuala O'Sullivan SC, prosecuting, said that he would try to find the right words to help Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring understand the impact the rape had on him. 'He raped me twice,' the man said 'This was not a moment of confusion. It was cold, calculated and violent – he knew what he was doing – and eight years later he did it again'. 'This is what he chose. This is who he is. I trusted him and told him about my trauma and vulnerabilities and he controlled, degraded and violated me in the most horrific way,' he continued. The man said that Nyhan spoke of his children during the incident which he said he found to be 'twisted and inhumane'. Thomas 'Tossy' Nyhan (64) News in 90 Seconds - Monday June 23 He said he disclosed the second rape to his GP, because 'I could not hold the weight of his abuse any longer'. He later told gardaí about the earlier incident of rape. The man said he feels like he is being watched. 'I am trapped,' he said, before he went on to describe feeling 'constantly sick with anxiety'. He said he is 'a ghost of the man he used to be'. 'I am broken, alone. I have no one, because my barriers are always up.' 'He is a rapist and that will follow him for the rest of his life and it should,' the man continued. He then spoke to other victims of abuse and those who feel they are silenced. 'Please hear this – standing up and speaking out is one of the most hardest things but it is powerful and lifechanging,' he said, before he encouraged those similarly affected by such crimes to seek help. The man asked Ms Justice Ring to impose a sentence that reflected the impact of rape – 'Let it say this matters – we matter. Please show what I lost matters. What he did matters.' He concluded his victim impact statement by acknowledging the people who assisted him – the gardaí, his GP, the Rape Crisis Centre, a support worker and the legal team for the prosecution. The man thanked the jury 'for listening and for believing me – that has meant more to me than you will ever know'. Ms Justice Ring told the man that it was a very important decision she has to make. She congratulated him on his victim impact statement, describing it as a 'powerful piece of work'. 'I want to think about what you said. You are carrying a burden. At this stage that burden passes to me and I have to come up with a sentence that is right for you, right for the accused and right for the community,' Ms Justice Ring said. She revoked Nyhan's bail and remanded him in custody, adjourning the imposition of sentence to July 21 next, when Ms Justice Ring said she expects she will be sitting in Limerick again. Garda Lisa O'Connor told Ms O'Sullivan that Nyhan raped the man at the victim's home after they had been out at a restaurant and had visited friends together. He told the man he had to do his exercise, to combat a circulation issue he had before he lay on the man's bed with his legs up against the wall. He then told the man, 'I have to get something before I go home' before he took down the victim's pants and attempted to rape him. He told the man to relax and later lay him down on a pillow before he raped him. Nyhan said he would pay before he placed €150 on the radiator. The victim told his GP a few days later and the GP arranged for a garda to come to the clinic the following day to take a statement of complaint from the man. He then also disclosed the rape in January 2011. He said on that occasion Nyhan told him he was unable to have sex with his wife before he pushed the man on to the bed and raped him. Nyhan was arrested in July 2020 and interviewed. He claimed that he had not had sex with the man the previous April, but acknowledged there may have been some consensual sexual activity. He denied that anything had happened in January 2011. Mark Nicholas SC, defending, said that his client still maintains his innocence and said that there was significant publicity surrounding the case following his conviction earlier this year. He said his client had worked hard as a farmer for most of his life and had provided for others through this work.
