Man gets two years for raping teenager in 1960s

A Kilkenny man who pleaded guilty to raping a teenage girl 30 years ago has been jailed for two years by Mr Justice Carney at…

A Kilkenny man who pleaded guilty to raping a teenage girl 30 years ago has been jailed for two years by Mr Justice Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

Phillip Breen, a 63-year-old married man and retired printer, from Dean Kavanagh Place, Kilkenny, pleaded guilty to four sample charges of raping the victim between July 1966 and September 1969, when she was aged 13 to 17.

The victim had said one of the crimes was committed on a Christmas night, and it came back into her head every Christmas night since.

Mr Justice Carney said that in the matter of sentencing he was bound by principles laid down by a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal. The time span since the offending happened was applicable in this case.

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The judge said had he been a free agent he would have imposed a six-year sentence. He imposed two-year sentences on each offence to run concurrently and suspended the final six months.

Det Garda Pat Starr told Mr Michael Counihan SC, prosecuting, that the offences began when the victim slept in the same bed as the defendant and his wife. He would fondle her body but soon moved on to full sexual intercourse.

When the victim began a relationship with the man now her husband the rapes stopped, but he continued to indecently assault her for some time.

Breen apologised in court to his victim; he knew it was "a bit late" but if he could undo what had happened he would.