Cork 'drugs lord' coerced teen to have sex with him claiming she owed him €12k drugs debt

He told the girl that she could repay the money, have sex with him or that other men would go to her home to hurt her and “butcher” her family.

The girl agreed to have sex with O’Connell, believing she had no other option. He recorded her performing a sexual act, telling her he needed to provide proof.

Afterwards, O’Connell told her she still owed him €2,000, and she sent him jewellery and other items in an attempt to reduce this debt.

He got a total of €11,555 from the girl, including her mother's wedding band and a €6,500 engagement ring – which was later recovered – a tablet device, cash and €457 from three bank cards.

Gardai believe O’Connell’s claims that he was a member of a criminal gang and was caught with €12,000 of drugs are not true.

O’Connell of Hollyville, Hollyhill, Co. Cork pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the girl on January 5, 2024, at a hotel.

He also threatened the girl’s former boyfriend, accused him of being a rat and falsely told the boy he owed a debt of €45,000. The boy (then 18) sold drugs for O’Connell in Limerick, Galway and Cork to try to repay this debt.

O’Connell pleaded guilty to making demands with menace to the then 18-year-old on October 27, 2023.

His 62 previous convictions included 14 for deception, four for burglary and three drug offences. O’Connell was also on bail at the time.

Evidence was heard that O’Connell convinced both teenagers that he was a member of a well-known organised crime group. Gardai do not believe O’Connell’s claims.

O’Connell can be identified in reporting, but the girl wishes to retain her right to anonymity, the court heard.

At a sentence hearing on Thursday, Justice David Keane imposed a sentence of 11 years for the rape offence and a concurrent six-year term on the offence of making a demand with menace.

Justice Keane said that the defendant had offered the pleas “on full facts” and was asking the court to “take into consideration” other charges of theft, oral rape, production of “child pornography” and coercion of a child to engage with the production of “child pornography”.

He said this meant O'Connell was admitting he had carried out these acts.

Justice Keane said that one of the aggravating factors was the abuse of trust. He said O'Connell created a relationship of trust by befriending the two victims, which he then abused through a series of elaborate and brazen lies.

He convinced the girl that she was under his protection and that he was trying to assist her rather than ruthlessly exploit her. He told her that it was necessary to record her to prove to the gang that she had done this.

“He was presenting himself as her protector than the calculating predator that he actually was,” he said.

He said that O'Connell's actions were all deliberately planned to terrify and coerce the victims. He said that by recording the oral rape, O'Connell created an added degree of degradation to the girl.

He noted the position of the Director of Public Prosecutions, who placed the rape at the “most serious” level of rape offending, but that Brendan Grehan SC, defending, argued it did not reach that threshold due to the lack of additional gratuitous violence.

He set a headline sentence of 14 years, which he reduced to 11 years, “almost entirely on the basis of the pleas of guilty”. 

He suspended the final two years on conditions including that O’Connell keep the peace and be of good behaviour, accept the supervision of the Probation Service and engage in offence and victim-focused work with the Probation Service.

He also set a condition that O'Connell attend for assessment for sex offender treatment work and complete any he is deemed a suitable candidate for. He also ordered O'Connell to be under post-release supervision for two years.

The victim said she has changed as a person since she was “raped, abused and threatened”. She said she no longer feels safe in public and experiences panic attacks, even when she feels her best, “as if the trauma wants to remind me I am a rape victim”.

She said she will carry this as a weight on her shoulders for the rest of her life, but “will carry it proudly as I survived”. The girl thanked her family and friends for their support.

In his victim impact statement, the boy said O’Connell introduced him to cocaine, and he is now trying to get sober after developing an addiction.

The boy said he is isolated, suffers with sleep and trust issues and hasn’t been able to return to work.

The investigating garda agreed with Brendan Grehan SC, defending, that his client deceived the injured parties into believing he was a “drug lord of some kind”, that there was some drug use and that O’Connell has addiction issues.

It was further accepted that the girl told gardaí that O’Connell asked her if they were going to do it again afterwards, she refused, they hugged, and she left. Letters of apology from O’Connell to both victims were read to the court.

Mr Grehan noted his client has no similar previous convictions and had a serious addiction at the time.

The court was told that O’Connell has been sober for 14 months, but no documents relating to this were available for the court.

An investigating garda gave evidence that the girl and boy started dating shortly before the offending occurred. O’Connell became friendly with the boy, telling him he was a drug lord and showing him photos of cars and cash.

The girl also became acquainted with O’Connell. He later convinced her that the boy owed him a debt, and she gave him €500 to help repay it.

O’Connell sent messages to them both, which undermined their relationship. After they broke up, the girl continued to meet O’Connell. She told him she was 16.

They arranged to meet up in late December 2023, but O’Connell did not show up. Several days later, he contacted the girl in a rage, leaving her messages and missed calls.

He told her he’d been caught with €12,000 of drugs and accused her of informing on him. He said others were on the way to her home to hurt her and her family. Gardai are satisfied O’Connell’s claim of being caught with €12,000 of drugs is untrue.

The girl agreed to have sex with O’Connell as she believed this was the only option available.

The girl performed non-consensual oral sex on O’Connell and had sex with him in a hotel room, believing it would clear the debt. O’Connell recorded her performing oral sex on him, telling her he needed proof.

The court was told that the girl can be heard asking in the video if it has to be five minutes. O’Connell replied that it was supposed to be an hour.

Shortened versions of the same recording were also found on the phone which O’Connell pawned which was later recovered by gardaí.

Afterwards, O’Connell told the girl that the debt was now €2,000. She gave him a tablet, worth €500, to reduce the debt further.

Over the following weeks, the girl sent O’Connell jewellery and images of bank cards.

He sent the girl other threatening messages. In February 2024, he messaged the girl “you’re dead, raped, tortured”.

The girl disclosed what had happened after her father found her hiding a bank card.

O’Connell’s home was searched in March 2024. The tablet was found along with a receipt for a pawn shop, where gardaí recovered the wedding band and engagement ring. Other items of jewellery were not recovered.

O’Connell was interviewed following his arrest in March 2024 and admitted having sex with the girl, saying she was 18. He claimed that she initiated the encounter.

He also denied making the recording, saying the girl did it.

In relation to the girl’s ex-boyfriend, the court heard O’Connell sent him a false news story in October 2023 about three men being arrested while travelling to Galway.

The boy didn’t know the story was fake when O’Connell accused him of being a rat and told him he now owed a debt of €45,000.

The boy used his savings, made payments to third-party accounts, then sold drugs on his behalf in Galway, Limerick and Cork. He also handed over around €1,810 to O’Connell.

O’Connell threatened the boy and his family, with his father giving him at least €2,000.

O’Connell exercised his right to silence when questioned about the boy.

Mr Corkery told the court that the DPP considers the rape offence to be in the most serious category of offending, which attracts a headline sentence of between 15 years to life.

He said this offending involved a successful “premeditated campaign of terror” to subjugate the complainant’s will and the girl’s trust was gained through manipulation.

Counsel also pointed out that O’Connell produced child sexual abuse material by recording the sexual act, and that the phone was later pawned.

The judge said the filming was a “grave aggravating factor”, noting that victims in general have “no control over what happens” and can be left wondering.

Mr Grehan said there is no evidence of any distribution of the recording, acknowledging how demeaning it is for any injured party. He said he did not agree with the view of the DPP that the case falls into the highest sentencing category.