A 24 YEAR OLD man who admitted sexually assaulting a younger male cousin has had his three year sentence suspended to allow time to pay the victim £4,500 compensation. The Central Criminal Court was told the accused man tried to hang him self after the incident.
The man admitted sexually assaulting the then 15 year old boy in a Kildare pub on February 20th, 1994. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
A garda told Mr Paul O'Higgins' SC, prosecuting, that the victim had gone into the pub where his cousin was drinking. Initially the teenager refused to go to the toilet, but was then pulled into the cubicle and forced into sexual acts.
Early the following morning the accused was arrested at his home and made a full confession. He "claimed no violence had been involved but that the victim had "just stood there trembling as if he was in a trance."
The garda told Mr Kevin Haugh SC, defending, that the man had attempted to hang himself and had been saved only by the fortuitous intervention of a neighbour.
Mr Haugh said one of the defendant's parents had died during the past year and he had blamed himself for the death. He had gone into deep depression as a result and had made the attempt on his life in total despair.
"His actions at the time were the product of immaturity rather than criminality," he added.
Mr Justice Kinlen said that jail was not always the answer in criminal cases. Sometimes people sent to prison came out worse than when they went in.
"It costs the taxpayers approximately £700 a week to keep a person in prison and, where possible, courts must look for alternatives to help a convicted person's rehabilitation", he added.
Mr Justice Kinlen said it was "an appallingly sad case which had in a real sense destroyed two young lives." While drink might be an explanatory factor, it was never an excuse in law.
He adjourned the case to January 20th, 1997 and ordered the man to pay £2,000 compensation within two weeks and a further £2,500 by the remand date.