Courts

Woman says she is ‘one of the lucky ones’ as ex jailed for rape, assault and false imprisonment

Mary O’Donnell waived right to anonymity so Mark Leonard (30), from Moatfield Road, Coolock, could be named

Garda Ben Keyes told the court Mary O’Donnell and Mark Leonard’s relationship started out positively, but he became more controlling over time. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh
Sonya McLean
Mon Jul 29 2024 - 13:58

A woman who was raped and regularly beaten by her partner over a number of years says she understands she is “one of the lucky ones” having survived the relationship.

Mary O’Donnell (33) waived her right to anonymity so that Mark Leonard (30) could be named in the reporting of the case.

Leonard, of Moatfield Road, Coolock, Dublin 5, was jailed for 10 years on Monday after pleading guilty to seven charges of assaulting the woman causing her harm. He denied charges of assault, false imprisonment and three charges of rape on dates between January 2016 and September 2019 but was convicted of these by a Central Criminal Court jury.

The trial heard the couple started a relationship in 2011 when Ms O’Donnell was 20 and Leonard was 17. They broke up briefly in October 2018 but reconciled the following year before breaking up permanently in September 2019.

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In her victim impact statement, which she read into the record, Ms O’Donnell described the relationship with Leonard as “sinister” but added: “I am one of the lucky ones. I got out alive ... So many others don’t get that chance.”

“The fear he put in me is still a massive part of my everyday life,” she said.

Ms O’Donnell said she believes “I would not be here today” if she had stayed in the relationship and that she is “still left with demons” from her time with Leonard.

She said Leonard restricted her visits to her father in the final year of his life and she felt she missed out and “could not grieve him” properly as a result. She described the apartment she shared with Leonard as “a prison”.

However, she said the man she is now married to “fixes the things” Leonard broke and comforts and protects her, but he asks her permission to put his arm around her at night so as not to give her a fright.

Garda Ben Keyes said Ms O’Donnell and Leonard’s relationship started out positively, but he became more controlling over time and family members noted a change in her behaviour. He said the relationship deteriorated and Leonard would get angry if Ms O’Donnell did not want to have sex with him and would get jealous if she wanted to go out with friends.

He said Leonard would wake Ms O’Donnell at night and hit her if she refused to have sex with him. She often found herself submitting to him because it was easier to do so. The couple broke up for a period and Leonard wrote a letter to Ms O’Donnell in which he apologised for “hitting you and the sex things”.

They reconciled in June 2019 but, by the following September, when Ms O’Donnell wanted to go to a friend’s wedding, Leonard assaulted her again and threatened to murder her and her mother. He “falsely imprisoned” Ms O’Donnell in her bedroom, tied her pyjamas around her neck and refused to let her out unless she performed oral sex on him. He again forced Ms O’Donnell to perform oral sex after they had an argument when they were due to move into a flat together.

Michael Bowman, SC, defending, said Leonard had been exposed to domestic violence visited on himself, his brother and his mother, which left him in a constant state of anxiety. Counsel said his client “suffered from a fear of abandonment and extremely low self-esteem”. He acknowledged that it was unfortunate that Leonard did not deal with the case before the trial so as to prevent Ms O’Donnell having to give evidence.

Mr Justice Paul Burns expressed his sympathy for Ms O’Donnell and said he hopes she can continue to recover with further support. He noted “the horrendous impact” Leonard’s crimes had but said Ms O’Donnell “thankfully now has the support of a loving husband”. He said the offences represented “a prolonged campaign of both physical and sexual abuse”.

He set headline sentences of four years for the assaults, 10 years for the false imprisonment and 12 years for the rapes. He reduced each of these by a year, taking into account mitigating factors including Leonard’s “late in the day” acceptance of responsibility. He imposed concurrent sentences of 11 years before suspending the final year on strict conditions.