Joseph Cummins was jailed for 18 months just two days before he violently raped an elderly widow. However, the 20-year-old was out on bail pending the outcome of an appeal when the "appalling outrage" was perpetrated.
A jury of nine men and three women took an hour and 40 minutes yesterday to consider its verdict in a trial described as "upsetting and distressing for everybody involved".
Just minutes after the unanimous guilty verdict was announced, the jurors listened intently as details of Cummins's previous convictions were revealed. Supt Catherine Keogh told the court how Cummins, who came to the attention of gardaí as a young boy, has amassed 60 previous convictions despite his young age.
On May 20th, 2005, two days before the rape, he was jailed for 18 months at Nenagh District Court for traffic offences, but was granted bail pending an appeal. The sentence was upheld a year later by Judge Michael O'Shea at Nenagh Circuit Court, according to Supt Keogh.
Some 39 of Mr Cummins previous convictions relate to traffic offences and include 14 for stealing cars. He has eight previous convictions for theft-related charges and nine for public order and criminal damage offences.
Supt Keogh told the court that while Cummins had no previous convictions for sexual assault, he did have three previous convictions for assault, one of which related to an assault on a garda.
It was also revealed yesterday that the victim in the case, has never gone back to live at her home since her ordeal. The pensioner, who is two months away from her 76th birthday, now lives in accommodation beside one of her daughters, the court heard.
Throughout the trial the woman's five daughters supported their frail mother and wept openly with her when the guilty verdict was returned yesterday.
There were tears too when the woman was forced to recount details of her horrific attack and the sexual indignities suggested to her by Cummins.
Though she did not wish to give any more evidence yesterday, she indicated to the court that she would fill out a victim impact statement and was willing to travel to Dublin for Cummins's sentencing next March.