A teenager who threatened to kill a young woman while subjecting her to a serious sexual assault has been sent to Trinity House detention centre for 3½ years.
The teenager (15) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to oral and attempted rape of the victim on September 19th, 2005 at Glenageary in Dublin.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said the maximum sentence he could impose was four years due to the boy's age. The judge said the facts were "truly appalling".
He declared the teenager a sex offender under the law and directed he undergo three years post-release supervision after noting that, but for the Children Act which "capped" the sentence at four years, he would have imposed a seven-year sentence.
The now 21-year-old victim told the court she could not see herself forming a relationship in the future and she did not plan to tell her parents about what happened.
The woman said she now never travelled by Dart because she heard a Dart during her ordeal and she could not sleep in the dark because the youth had forced her to keep her eyes covered all the time.
Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC told the victim that the teenager had instructed him to offer her his sincere apologies.
Det Garda Tina Walsh told prosecuting counsel Remy Farrell the victim had noticed a teenage boy pass her by twice before she was suddenly grabbed from behind.
The youth knocked her to the ground and sat astride her with his back to her face and demanded to know where the money was.
Det Garda Walsh said the victim began screaming when the teenager put his hand down her trousers.
He said he would stab her and ordered her to put her hands over her eyes. She tried to escape but he caught her and punched her, repeating his stab threat in an angry manner.
He forced her towards an area where there were bushes and subjected her to a sexual assault including oral rape. Det Garda Walsh said the youth then made her "swear" not to tell the gardaí while walking her further into the bushes where she believed he was going to kill her.
However, he left suddenly and after waiting a few minutes to be sure he was gone she dressed and ran to the road where she met a man who took her home.
The teenager was arrested soon after gardaí were notified and after initially denying her claims he admitted everything.
Mr O'Higgins said the youth had a troubled background. His mother had given him to foster parents when he was six weeks old. He remained with the foster parents for about 10 years but returned unsuccessfully to his birth mother for a time. He had behavioural problems at school arising out of literacy and numeracy difficulties.
Mr O'Higgins said the teenager started fighting with his foster parents when he began abusing cannabis resin, ecstasy and alcohol but they were still supportive of him despite the difficulties. He was now engaging well with the various services since going to Trinity House, he said.