TD renews calls to end intimidation of Listowel sex assault victim

A LEADING Kerry politician has renewed his call for an end to any intimidation of a Listowel sex assault victim who has claimed she is enduring a campaign of death threats and damage to her house.

Gardaí are investigating reports that she received phone calls with death threats and that the front door of her home in Listowel had been kicked in.

However, people in north Kerry yesterday insisted that the family of Danny Foley, the 35-year-old bouncer who was convicted last December of sexually assaulting the woman after they left a Listowel nightclub, had nothing to do with the campaign against her.

Fine Gael TD Jimmy Deenihan, who several months ago called for an end to intimidation, yesterday said the Foley family had appealed from the outset for the 24-year-old woman, who has a young son, to be left alone.

“They have said very clearly they don’t want any intimidation of her in any way possible,” he stated.

The woman’s latest revelations, in a Sunday newspaper, have reignited a controversy which people in the Listowel area were hoping had ended.

Listowel-based Deputy Deenihan said the first he knew of the claims was when he read about them, on Sunday, and the woman had not been in contact with him.

“Personally, I was very surprised at what I read. Having known Listowel and its people all my life, I can say the people here are the most caring, compassionate and generous that you’ll find anywhere,” he remarked.

“The actions of a very tiny section of the community are very unfair not only the victim herself, but also to the community in Listowel.”

The case generated massive publicity, last December, after about 50 of Danny Foley’s supporters queued up to shake his hand just before his sentencing at the Circuit Criminal Court, in Tralee.

Danny Foley was given a seven-year prison sentence, with two years suspended, after being found guilty by a jury.

The victim afterwards said she felt intimidated in the courtroom. The hand-shaking gesture led to outrage and a huge amount of messages of support for the victim from around the world.

She subsequently encouraged other victims to come forward and report sexual assaults.

She also told a crowded news conference that she intended to continue living in Listowel and pleaded with people to let her get on with her life, without fear and harassment.