A CONVICTED killer who raped his mother has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The Central Criminal Court heard that the 45-year-old man had a previous conviction for the manslaughter of a woman in England.
Mr Justice Barry White described the case as one of the most horrendous rape cases, if not the most horrendous, he had encountered in his legal career.
Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, told the court that although his client accepted the guilty verdict, he maintained that at the time he believed his mother was consenting to sex.
Det Garda Sgt Denis Smith told Gerard Clarke SC, prosecuting, that on the afternoon of March 2nd, 2008, the victim had attended a Mother’s Day social event before going home to bed.
At 11pm her son showed up at the house and she got out of bed to let him in. He poured some drinks, put on a Joe Dolan CD and began dancing.
He asked his mother to dance and she did, but then sat down again.
During the three-day trial the victim gave evidence that she must have blacked out then because she did not know how she ended up on the floor with her son on top of her having sex with her.
She said: “When I realised what was happening I said ‘leave me alone’. I kept saying ‘leave me alone’.”
She said afterwards she thought he was going to do it again.
She said she wanted him to get out of the house, but that when he left she was unable to lift herself up off the floor because of her hip problems.
Det Garda Sgt Smith said that when he was arrested in March 2008, the man admitted having had sex with his mother, but said she was a willing participant.
After being charged and released on bail, the man went to England. A European arrest warrant was issued and he was brought back to Ireland by Det Garda Sgt Smith in July 2010.
The court heard that the man had been previously jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a woman in England. The woman had threatened to expose his affair with a married woman who was 30 years older than him.
Mr Ó Lideadha said his client wished to convey his deep remorse for the trauma he had caused his mother and his family, for the “wrongful act” of having had sex with her and for having contested the charge.
Mr Justice White said that the offence lay at the highest end of the scale. “Not only was she 66,” he added, “but she was your mother”.
He also noted that the man had expressed remorse for having sex with his mother, but not for raping her.
The judge said he could find few mitigating circumstances other than a difficult childhood, a reasonable work history and difficulties with alcohol.
He suspended the last 2½ years of the sentence and backdated the start of the term to July 2010, when the man was extradited from England.
Mr Justice White also ordered that the man be registered as a sex offender.