12 and a half years for ‘savage, brutal, prolonged’ rape

A Limerick man has been sentenced to 12 and a half years imprisonment for punching, kicking, and repeatedly raping a woman in her home.

The “savage, brutal, and prolonged” attack by Alan Hanley, 34, only came to an end when the woman ran naked from her house, with only a towel and a throw on her, while the rapist tried to turn off a smoke alarm.

The alarm went off as Hanley had been burning cut-up pieces of a rug on which he had ejaculated during the attack.

Hanley, of Upper Carey’s Rd, Limerick City, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to three counts of rape at a house in the city on the night of May 4/5 in 2012. He had admitted assaulting the woman causing her harm on the same occasion.

After a retrial last month, a jury returned guilty verdicts on the three rape charges.

Ms Justice Deirdre Murphy imposed sentences of 12 and a half years for each of the rape offences. She imposed the maximum possible sentence of five years for the assault, saying it was hard to envisage a more serious attack.

“He terrorised her for more than an hour, putting her in real fear of her life,” the judge said. All sentences will run concurrently from May 2012, when Hanley was in custody.

Hanley has previous convictions for violent crimes, including possession of a knife in 2000 and threats to kill in 2007 and 2008. He was convicted of intimidating a witness in his 2008 case.

At the time of the attack, the victim had been seeking treatment for abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs. The court heard her rehabilitation attempts were set back after the attack but she had made significant progress more recently.

She suffered from nightmares which left her terrified to sleep. She still attends weekly counselling with the Rape Crisis Centre.

Ms Justice Murphy said the woman had worked hard on her personal growth and self-esteem.

The victim had met Hanley some weeks before the attack and there was a sexual element to their relationship, the court heard. Two nights before the rape Hanley and the victim had a serious falling out.

Sergeant Andrew Lacey told the sentence hearing that on the night of the attack Hanley went to the woman’s house and began punching and kicking her when she answered the door. He continued to attack her until she was lying in a ball by the fireplace.

He then tore all her clothes off and raped her on the rug before dragging her by her hair into a shower where he “hosed her down”, the court heard. She tried to escape but he caught her and raped her a second time and dragged her into the shower again. He dragged her downstairs where he raped her a third time.

After the third rape, Hanley ejaculated and some of this went on the rug. He became enraged and started cutting up the rug and began burning the cut-up pieces in the fireplace.

He also burned all her underwear and other clothing, telling her “they’ll get no evidence here”.

During the sentencing hearing Hanley, who had dismissed his legal team after his conviction, repeatedly shouted at the judge that he was not a rapist and called the victim a liar.

He shouted: “You’re making me out to be an animal.”

Hanley shouted that he would be appealing.