‘House of horrors’ father has jail term cut

The father in the ‘house of horrors’ Roscommon case ought to have had a greater proportion of his 14-year sentence suspended, the Court of Appeal has found, in reference to cases of broadly similar seriousness.

The 57-year-old man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty to 47 counts of rape and sexual assault committed against his son when the boy was aged between 12 and 15 at their home in Co Roscommon over a three- year period to 2004.

Having been found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court, the man was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with the final 18 months suspended by Mr Justice Barry White on March 5, 2010.