An Englishman convicted by Swansea Crown Court of murder in 1983 and sentenced to life has been jailed for 12 years by Mr Justice McCracken at the Central Criminal Court. Mark Trayton-Smith (39) was found guilty of raping a 21-year-old woman at Nimmo's Pier, Galway, on June 5th, 1999.
Mr Justice McCracken said the most frightening aspect of the case was that Trayton-Smith had already killed somebody and had put his Galway victim in fear of her life when he attacked her at about 5 a.m. on the pier.
"She is very lucky you didn't also kill her. You must serve a long sentence for this crime, and 12 years is the appropriate term in this case", the judge said.
Det Sgt Barry Mitchell, of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, had told the court earlier that Trayton-Smith was convicted of murder in 1983 and jailed for life. He was released on licence in 1995 and moved to Ireland.
The jury heard that the victim reported the rape immediately to gardai. Some days later she observed Trayton-Smith first in Eyre Square and later coming out of a bar. Trayton-Smith ran off when approached by gardai, but was chased and arrested.