Rapist was entitled under law to be on bail, says judge

THE judge who sentenced Joseph Cummins to 15 years in prison for the brutal rape and robbery of a Tipperary pensioner said he was not out on bail at the time of the offence as a result of “soft sentencing” by members of the judiciary.

Mr Justice Paul Carney yesterday took care to stress that Cummins was entitled “as of right” under the law to be at liberty at the time of the offence.

“There is no question of judges going soft,” he said.

Cummins was granted bail after he was sentenced to 18 months in jail by Nenagh District Court on May 20, 2005, for several offences relating to the theft of a vehicle — two days before he committed the rape and assault on a 74-year-old widow in her home.

However, the country’s leading criminal judge sought to head off any threat of a public outcry at this fact by pointing out that Cummins was perfectly entitled to be released on bail at the time as he had appealed the convictions.

Mr Justice Carney spoke as the Central Criminal Court heard that Cummins had already clocked up 60 previous convictions.

Superintendent Catherine Keogh outlined how Cummins, who suffers from ADHD, had been known to gardaí since he first appeared before the local district court when he was aged 14.

The Central Criminal Court heard Cummins was sentenced in May 2005 to a series of consecutive six-month terms for offences related to the unlawful taking of a vehicle.

Under Irish law, anyone handed down a prison sentence by the district court — which can only impose maximum terms of 12 months — has the automatic right to bail in the case of an appeal being lodged.

Convicted persons are automatically entitled to bail in such circumstances, on the basis that offences dealt with by the district courts are generally of a relatively minor nature.

The vast majority of crimes for which Cummins had previously been convicted related to the theft of vehicles and road traffic offences such as dangerous driving and driving without insurance and licence.

He had never been charged or arrested for any offence of a sexual nature before the present case.

Mr Justice Paul Carney also took the unusual step of commenting on the garda investigation into the rape and robbery of the woman.

The judge praised Nenagh gardaí for cracking the case using “old-fashioned, bobby-on-the-beat” skills.

The court heard Garda Paul O’Driscoll was able to link Cummins with the description provided by the victim of her attacker’s clothing because he had observed the suspect wearing more formal attire than normal on the day in question.

It later emerged that Cummins had been attending a family christening.

Such information enabled gardaí to conduct a speedy search of Cummins’s house, which led to the discovery of DNA evidence which helped to identify him as the rapist.