Man avoids jail for sexual assault on his half-sister

A man who sexually assaulted his half-sister having offered her a lift home from a house party has been given a suspended sentence.

The 34-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the now 20-year-old victim, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of sexual assault on June 16, 2012. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan said he thought he could glean from the accused man’s behaviour before and since that this was a one off event and noted there was no gratuitous violence.