Three years for man who raped sleeping woman

AN “upstanding member” of a community in Kerry has been sentenced to three years in prison for raping a woman while she slept, having met her for the first time that night.

Daniel (DJ) Keane, aged 24, of Beach Grove, Listowel was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury last month of raping the woman at her home on February 9, 2009. He had pleaded not guilty and initially denied having sex with the woman but when his semen was found in her vagina, he claimed he had a wet dream after falling asleep beside her.

Keane, a member of Moyvane GAA football club and Newtown Athletic Club, was described by his counsel Hugh Hartnett as “an upstanding member of the community”. He had five previous convictions for road traffic offences which all arose from one incident.