A MENTALLY handicapped man who attacked and raped a married woman near her home in Co Longford has been jailed for seven years. The woman, aged 52, believed she was going to die when the man produced a penknife and said he would hurt her, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
A detective said the defendant had been working on the roof of his house when he saw the woman out walking. He followed and spoke to her.
Without warning, he attacked her, punching and kicking her to the ground before dragging her into fields where he committed the rape and other sex assaults, the detective told Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, prosecuting.
During the attack, the woman's glasses were knocked off and she could not see very well. The man also removed her bra and placed it in a rabbit burrow where gardai found it later.
When the attack was over, the woman went to the home of a garda and raised the alarm. Gardai suspected the defendant and asked about his whereabouts. The next day he walked into the Garda station and asked: "What am I being accused of now?"
In April the 27 year old defendant, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to rape, oral rape, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the woman on July 22nd, 1996.
Mr Justice Carney said he would have jailed the man for nine years but for medical evidence that he was mentally subnormal. He took into account a number of factors against the defendant, including the nature and effect of the offence, the severe physical injuries inflicted and the use of the knife which led the woman to believe her life was in danger.
He noted the woman was trembling when she appeared in court in April, and again for the sentence. While it was worse on the first occasion, he had no doubt it was genuine.
He also took into account one previous conviction the defendant had for common assault in 1987 on a married woman whom he attacked from behind after engaging her in conversation. The defendant ran off when the woman's husband came to her aid.
In the defendant's favour, he took into account his guilty plea, his statement of admission which was made within five hours of his arrest, evidence that he was mentally subnormal, and the dicta of Mrs Justice Denham that the court was concerned with neither retaliation nor revenge.
Mr Barry White SC, defending, said he had been instructed to apologise to the court and to the victim for the hurt and distress caused.