Rapist threatened to kill himself if victim talked to gardaí

08/02/2010 - 19:00:32

A Sligo man who raped a young girl and held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself if she told anyone will be sentenced next week at the Central Criminal Court.

The victim said in a statement that in the years following the rape she tried to commit suicide by taking pills and when she told her attacker this he just laughed.

The 39-year-old man pleaded guilty to the rape of the then 13-year-old girl at his home in Sligo between September 1 and October 15, 2004. He faces up to life imprisonment when his sentence is finalised next week before Mr Justice Paul Carney.

Sergeant John Barry said the accused had been in a long-term relationship with the girl's mother which had ended several years previously. The girl and her siblings kept in close contact with the man and would frequently visit his house.

She was staying with him one night and the two were watching television in his bedroom. He climbed on top of her, partially undressed her and raped her. Before he was finished he got off her and said what he was doing was wrong.

She ran into the other room and slept in the kitchen. He asked her not to tell anyone and she continued to come visit him. However as she got older they started to argue frequently and he became very protective of her.

She would threaten to tell people what happened and he said he would kill himself if she did. On one occasion he held his legally held fireman to his head and said he would shoot himself if she told. She told him to do it. His firearm license has since been revoked.

He later told gardaí he was very protective of her and would frequently ring her to make sure she was OK. He said he promised to stop arguing with her if she did not report him but in 2006 she went to gardaí.

When he was interviewed he admitted everything immediately. He told gardaí he had several drinks that night and “one thing led to another and it happened”. The girl told gardaí he was not drunk and she had not seen him drinking.

Her victim impact report stated that, following the incident, she had tried to cut her wrists and take pills to commit suicide. She said when she told the man this he laughed. She said she thought she had done something wrong and was afraid to leave her home in case he saw her.

Sgt Barry agreed with Mr Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that the incident was a once-off and the man was hard-working and quiet but “likes a drink”. He has no previous convictions.

Mr Grehan said his client suffered from depression and was currently out of work. He said he apologised for the rape and was genuinely remorseful.

Mr Justice Carney ordered he be registered as a sex offender and remanded him on bail until next week.

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