Sentence was maximum that could be imposed

UNDER flawed incest laws, the mother-of-six who raped her then 13-year-old son could only be jailed for a maximum of seven years, while a man convicted of the same crime can receive a life sentence.

The 40-year-old was the first woman in the history of the State to be sentenced under Irish incest legislation, which dates back more than a century.

Judge Miriam Reynolds yesterday imposed the maximum sentence of seven years on the woman, who was found guilty of 10 charges, including two of incest, two of sexual abuse and six of neglect and willful ill-treatment and neglect of her children between 1998 and 2004.