A 26 YEAR OLD Kilkenny man who sexually assaulted a neighbour has been ordered to pay the victim £6,000 compensation. His case was adjourned to February 10th, 1997, at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kinlen warned the man that he was not excluding the possibility of a prison sentence.
He also told the defendant that he may be ordered to pay the victim at least another £3,000.
The judge said that, despite the public outcry, prison was the last alternative in criminal cases. It might take the defendant many years to pay off the debt he would incur, he said, and this might be a more realistic punishment thank the State paying £700 a week to keep him in jail.
Mr Justice Kinlen said the compensation would be some, but not much, consolation for the terrible trauma caused to the woman.
The defendant pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman, a student in her 20s, on April 4th, 1994.
Garda Agnes Reddy said the victim and the defendant had dated once or twice. Some time after the shortlived relationship ended, they met in a pub.
She accepted a lift in his car and on the way home, they stopped and began to "kiss and cuddle". When he tried to touch her intimately, the woman objected, but he forced himself on her.
She got out of the car and raised the alarm. Arrested later that morning, the defendant admitted the offence and expressed regret.
He also apologised to the victim in open court.