A YOUNG man jailed for 15 years for the horrific and degrading rape of a 74-year-old widow in her home in the middle of the night has lost his appeal against conviction and sentence on all grounds.
The Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) said the offence by Joseph Cummins (21) was at "the most serious" end of the scale and noted it had resulted in his victim leaving her home, where she had lived alone, and never returning.
The woman had moved to another area, had effectively lost her sense of independence and her security, and remained fearful, the court heard.
In dismissing Cummins's appeal yesterday, Ms Justice Fidelma Macken, sitting with Mr Justice Michael Hanna and Mr Justice John Hedigan, said the CCA attributed "great importance" to the right of all citizens of this country to be entitled to feel secure in their own homes.
She said the victim had been subjected by Cummins, then aged 18 with 60 previous convictions, to multiple serious degrading sexual assaults, and the trial judge, Mr Justice Paul Carney, was justified in placing this offence at the highest end of the scale.
Aggravating factors included the fact he was on bail at the time and that he threatened the woman during the assaults, including threats not to report the incident to gardaí
The CCA also found the trial judge had taken Cummins's age into account when deciding sentence. On arguments that the trial judge failed to include a rehabilitative aspect in the 15-year sentence, Ms Justice Macken noted the evidence was that earlier rehabilitation options afforded to Cummins had not been pursued. There was also no evidence Cummins would pursue future rehabilitation options, she added.
There was a basis for the trial judge's view that Cummins represented a continued risk to the community, she added.
Earlier, in dismissing Cummins's appeal against conviction, the CCA ruled that an error in a search warrant used by gardaí to search Cummins's home was an error of "form rather than substance". The error was contained in the body of the warrant and involved a reference to an incorrect Act.
The CCA also noted that, irrespective of its view on the warrant error, there was adequate evidence, including DNA evidence on Cummins's underpants which matched the DNA of his victim, on which the jury could have returned a guilty verdict against Cummins.
Cummins, of St Joseph's Park, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, was found guilty by a jury in January 2007 of raping the woman in her home on May 22nd, 2005.
He was also convicted of burglary of her home, but was acquitted, by direction of the court, of threatening to kill the pensioner on the same occasion.
Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Cummins to 15 years in jail, declared Cummins a sex offender and ordered that he undergo 10 years post-release supervision.
Earlier yesterday, in presenting Cummins's appeal, Tim O'Leary SC argued the trial judge paid insufficient weight to Cummins's age and to the need for rehabilitation in sentence. He said none of Cummins's previous convictions were for a sexual offence.
