Rapist fails in appeal on severity of sentence

A rapist, who successfully challenged the constitutionality of a law stopping the payment of his State contributory old-age pension, has lost an appeal against the severity of his 12-year jail term.

The 77-year-old, whose details cannot be published to protect the victim’s identity, had denied 60 counts of sexual assaulting and 14 counts of raping his daughter at locations in Galway and Roscommon on dates between January 2002 and September 2006.

He was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury following a retrial.