Sex offender says he ‘doesn’t remember’ raping sister

A Galway man who “doesn’t remember” raping his sister is to be sentenced next week at the Central Criminal Court.

The 41-year-old man, who can not be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to raping his younger sibling in a Galway town on a date in February 2011.

The man told gardaí he could not remember committing the offence as he had been very drunk at the time and taken “a load of D10s” or Valium tablets.

When forensic testing revealed traces of his semen in his sister’s vagina, he made full admissions and acknowledged that they must have had sex.

Garda Adrian Feeley told Garret Baker, prosecuting, that the victim moved into her brother’s bungalow just days before the offence took place.

The court heard that the woman, aged in her late 30s, had been in a relationship which had broken down.

She had been sleeping in the bedroom while her brother had moved into the living area to sleep.

On the morning in question, the woman went into the living area where she saw her brother looking “doped up”. He got up and locked the front door, drew the curtains, and started shouting at his sister to take off her pyjamas and T-shirt and lie on the couch.

The woman told gardaí she felt scared so she did what he said. He raped her twice and she said it was very rough and painful.

The woman left the house that night to stay with her sister and rang 999 the next day to make a complaint.

The man was questioned and initially speculated that his sister may have interfered with him while he slept.

When confronted with forensic evidence, he made admissions, although he also suggested that the sex might have been consensual.

He told gardaí he had drunk about two crates of bottles of beer the previous night and taken “a load of D10s”.

In a victim impact statement read out on her behalf, the woman said she suffers from headaches, nightmares, and flashbacks. She has been admitted to psychiatric care since the offence and has tried to end her life on a number of occasions.

Martin Giblin, defending, told the court the man is unemployed and dependent on alcohol and sedatives. He has no previous convictions.

Mr Justice Paul Carney declared the man a sex offender and remanded him in custody for sentencing next Tuesday, May 6.