A Kildare man who raped and threatened to kill his housemate in Newbridge last year has been jailed for seven years by the Central Criminal Court.
Martin Keane (33), of Moorfield Park, Newbridge, Kildare, pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and of threatening to kill the 27-year-old woman on February 14th, 2002, at a house where they were both renting rooms.
Mr Justice Carney said that, while a conviction by a jury would most definitely have meant a sentence in double figures for Keane's crimes, which included "two forms of rape, gratuitous violence and a credible threat to kill", he was suspending the last two years on account of Keane's early plea of guilty, which had helped the court ease its current backlog by vacating the trial date for another violent criminal to be tried.
It also saved his victim from the trauma of having to give evidence in court.
Sgt Con O'Sullivan told Mr Michael Counihan SC, prosecuting, that the woman had been living in the house since August 2001, and Keane had just moved in as a tenant three weeks before the incident.
Sgt O'Sullivan said that after raping her Keane had asked her to tell him that she loved him and she obliged. He then became "less animal and more human" and went to sleep, holding her tightly. She remained awake until 7 a.m. when he asked her for money before leaving the room.
Afterwards she complained to gardaí, and Keane was arrested a few hours later at a nearby building site where he worked.
The judge ordered that Keane be added to the Sexual Offenders' Register and ordered five years' post-release supervision under the Sexual Offenders Act, 2001.