A Co Monaghan man who sexually abused and beat his daughter for nearly 20 years was jailed for 15 years yesterday. Mr Justice Carney said it was one of the worst cases of its kind to be heard at the Central Criminal Court.
Noel Walsh (55) started abusing his daughter, Judith, now 34, when she was 11 in early 1977 and continued raping and beating her until she finally left home. Ms Walsh wanted her father named publicly because she felt a responsibility to the public to provide more exposure to this type of offence. Mr Justice Carney lifted his anonymity.
The abuse included rape, sexual assault and beatings. She was threatened regularly with knives and guns, including shotguns. Her father had got custody of her by court order in 1979 and she hardly went to school at all due to him moving to several addresses in the following years.
Ms Walsh said if there had been more openness about the possibility of this type of abuse it might not have happened. "Incest and rape require more exposure," she said.
Noel Walsh, a native of Annalitten, Castleblayney, and with an address at Tritonville Road, Sandymount, admitted three charges of rape and two of indecent assault. Mr Brendan Grehan, prosecuting, said these were sample charges from 30 on the indictment.
In a statement to gardai in 1996 Walsh described his relationship with his daughter as "very special" and said they had lived as "husband and wife" for many years. He said: "Judy was my whole life, and when she left me, my whole life fell apart. I will never forgive her."
Ms Walsh told the court she survived 20 years of sexual violence with her father. Her innocence was taken from her when she was a child. "He left me confused, bewildered and feeling utterly worthless," she said.
Ms Walsh said she was raped, sexually abused and physically beaten between 1977 and 1982. She fled to England in 1982, but he persuaded her to come back. The feeling of guilt he had instilled in her made her come back. She moved with him from Castleblayney to flats in Dundalk, Drogheda, Wicklow and finally Dublin.
"He was going to kill me eventually one way or another, so I fled back to England again in 1989 and then to South Africa," she said. "I had no right to life. I existed only to make his life easier." He took out any anger and frustration he felt on her. She was isolated from her family and not allowed to contact her siblings or to make friends.
She said she got away to London in 1989 but did not feel safe there. In South Africa she felt there was enough distance to feel secure.
Around 1995 she began to realise she was not to blame. She tracked down her family in 1996 and contacted gardai. She started therapy in 1996 and was seeing a psychologist in South Africa.
Her father was arrested after extensive investigations in May 1997. At first he denied the allegations.
Ms Walsh said their family had a reputation for being loners. No outsiders were welcome at their home. They had a very unhappy marriage and constantly fought. i Walsh said that he felt he thought his wife was an unfit mother to Judith, often abusing her verbally and physically. When Judith was about 14 her mother left.
Det Garda Mary Delmar said Walsh then made Judith take on all the cooking and cleaning and look after the other two children.
Det Garda Delmar said on one occasion the mother returned and took the children to Dublin and put them in school. Walsh caught up with them in July 1979 and got custody of Judith. Then he started moving from flat to flat with her.
Mr Patrick MacEntee SC (with Mr Fergal Foley), defending, said his client was now "a mere shell". He had lost everything. "He is homeless, penniless and friendless and is most remorseful for what he did," said Mr MacEntee.
Mr Justice Carney rejected the submission of remorse. He noted that Walsh told gardai that what he did was for his daughter's own good.
"He made his daughter in effect his slave and at the same time maintained a regime of beatings," said Mr Justice Carney, who added that he had no choice but to give Walsh the same consideration as all others who pleaded guilty in advance, by suspending unconditionally the final 15 months of the sentence. "His guilty plea is the only good thing I can find in his favour," he said.