Family demands answers as killer gets two more life terms

THE KILLER of Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo was yesterday given two further life sentences for the rape of another young woman in Galway two years ago.

Gerald Barry (29) raped a French student on August 16th, 2007, seven weeks before he killed Ms Riedo. He is already serving life for her murder.

Mr Justice Paul Carney gave Barry the maximum sentence on two counts of rape and called his crime an “outrage”.

“From the accused’s previous records, I believe he is a person who has the propensity to kill and rape and is highly likely to do so again,” the judge said at the Central Criminal Court in Galway.

The judge added that there was no “tunnel of hope” for Barry and the “scourge of drugs” made some people “mindless, wholly irrational and evil”.

In sentencing, Mr Justice Carney made reference to Barry’s “extraordinary list of previous convictions”.

He was already on the sex offenders’ list following an assault on his ex-partner and given five years for violent disorder for an unprovoked attack in Eyre Square which ended in the death of Colm Phelan in 1996.

Manuela’s parents Hans-Peter and Arlette Riedo are considering suing the State for mistakes they believe were made in the investigation.

The Basle-based publican Brendan McGuinness, who set up the Manuela Riedo Foundation and has maintained contact with Manuela’s parents, said the couple wanted answers as to why Barry was free to murder Ms Riedo and rape the French student given his violent past.

Mr McGuinness said there were also questions to be asked as to why Barry was given bail despite the objections of gardaí when he appeared in court in connection with an assault on his ex-partner.

That assault happened on the same night that he raped the French student. Barry was given bail on August 18th. He killed Ms Riedo on October 8th.

The Riedos also wanted to know why it took so long for forensic tests to come back from the laboratory in relation to the rape when samples of Barry’s clothes were sent for DNA analysis just days after the attack happened.

“There was mistakes made. The facts that have emerged from this rape case has made them even more upset about what happened to their daughter,” Mr McGuinness said.

Mr Phelan’s sister Colette said that her brother had died a “senseless death at the hands of an “evil monster”.

“I’ll only get peace when he is dead. We will leave God to give him his proper punishment. Jail is too good for him,” she said.