Garda molested woman as she slept

Sexual assault took place in Castlebar after a charity event

A FORMER garda who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman as she slept in a Castlebar hotel has been sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The defendant, who is a married father of three young girls, was sentenced for sexually assaulting the victim as she slept in her bed in the Breaffy House Resort in Castlebar on July 26, 2015.
Sentencing the defendant at last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Rory McCabe described the act as ‘opportunistic’ and had to accept the consequences of his actions.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to reporting restrictions imposed by the court, was a serving garda since 2007 at the time of the offence. He had also been awarded a medal for bravery for saving the life of a person. Mr Ken Fogarty, senior counsel for the defendant said that since his client pleaded guilty to the offence he has been served with his dismissal papers by the Garda Commissioner.

Changed plea
The victim and the defendant knew each other at the time of the offence. They were part of a group that had travelled to Mayo to attend a charity event in a Castlebar resort on July 25. The group was staying in an apartment at the resort. The victim was the only female among the group.
The victim told the court last February that the group had enjoyed drinks and played cards together before she  put on her pyjamas and retired to the double bed she was to share with her husband. She awoke to find fingers inside her and an erect penis pushing against her ‘quite forcibly’. The light then came on and she saw that the man getting out of the bed was not her husband.
The defendant initially pleaded not guilty to the charge but changed his plea to guilty after the evidence was given. Sentencing was adjourned for the preparation of a victim impact statement.

‘I hated myself’
In a lengthy victim impact statement which she read to the court, the victim revealed that she resorted to self-harming herself following the attack. “I hated myself. I hated my body for not wakening sooner. I hated the way he made me feel,” she said.
She added that she was recently married at the time of the attack and explained that it has affected her relationship with her husband and that she suffered from depression. She explained that before the attack she thought such a thing would never happen to her. She was no longer the person she once was, she said.
“I am branded by the actions of another, and I will carry this with me forever.
Not a day goes by that it does not affect me. It set me on a completely different course than the one I had taken,” she explained.
The victim said she had worried that no one would take her word over that of a garda’s, and that the lengthy investigation had affected her deeply. Her emotional anguish could have been avoided in 2015 if he had pleaded guilty then, she added.

Probation report
Mr Fogarty said his client recognised the distress he caused to the victim and was sorry for his actions on the night. He said his client was drunk on the night and not in control of himself. Mr Fogarty added that his client was going to lose his job and urged Judge McCabe not to impose a custodial sentence.
Judge McCabe said in that while the defendant regretted what happened, he was concerned by the probation report ordered in February last, which stated that despite his guilty plea the defendant was maintaining that the behaviour was consensual.
He said the interest of justice required a custodial sentence and imposed a two year sentence.
When asked to consider imposing a suspended sentence, Judge McCabe declined to do so.