Judge jails 21-year-old for rape

A 21-year-old man who raped and threatened to kill two Australian women in their Dublin flat has been jailed for 17 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.

Barry McGee of Foxfield Grove, Raheny subjected the 25-year-old victims to four hours of torture, terror and degradation at knifepoint during which he also threatened to kill them.

He told them: "You are going to play my game and play it according to my rules" and added: "This is no joke" while rubbing the knife against his own face.

Detective Sergeant George McGeary told the court "It was one of the most gruesome and horrible cases I have dealt with in the course of my career in the Garda Siochana."

McGee pleaded guilty to three counts each of rape and oral rape, one count of attempted rape, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of threatening to kill, and two counts of false imprisonment of the victims on May 5, 2002.

One of the women told the court he had made her feel sure she was going to die. He had waved the knife at her at such close quarters at one stage that it had scraped her ear.

"It would have gone through my head, if I had not moved," she said. McGee felt her heartbeat and told her: "It would take a very big blow to break your breastbone."

She said no one could imagine the feeling a woman would experience having to call her father to say: "I have been sodomised and raped and almost killed."

"I begged him, I told him he could have all the money we had, everything we had. We even offered to perform more sexual favours for him, if only he would let us not die," she said.

"There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Barry McGee was going to kill me," she added.

The second woman said that although she might appear reasonably strong in court, the past eight months of her life had been "unbelievable". She said telling her parents that their only daughter had been raped was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do.

Mr Justice Carney said McGee had raped the women "every which way possible" and had subjected them to every possible degradation and humiliation. Anyone who committed multiple contemporaneous rapes could expect to receive multiple sentences.

He imposed 17 year sentences on the rape and sex assault charges and concurrent eight year sentences on each count of threatening to kill and suspended the last two years unconditionally.

Mr Justice Carney said this was a discount given not for McGee's plea of guilty but for the early stage at which he had offered it which vacated a trial date for "another perverted and violent criminal to be tried".

Mr Justice Carney added that the policy of giving a 'discount' for this purpose would continue for as long as there was a backlog of cases in the court and for no longer.

Det Sgt McGeary told prosecuting counsel Mr Shane Murphy SC (with Mr Brendan Grehan BL) the women had travelled to over 36 countries but had never before experienced any such ordeal.

They had met McGee, a business school drop-out who worked in various Dublin shops, in the Grafton Street area on May 5, 2002. He was with another man and they both accompanied the victims to Rathmines where they were invited inside for a drink.

They were both there for a while and it was only as they were leaving the flat that McGee showed any sort of odd behaviour by dropping his trousers and asking them if they wanted to perform oral sex on him. They told him to go and he and his friend left the flat.

Both returned shortly afterwards for some property they had forgotten to take and once again left. McGee's friend hailed a taxi but McGee told him he would walk home.

Det Sgt McGeary said McGee then returned to the victims'flat on the pretext of having left some money behind. A "fruitless" search was conducted and he was again asked to leave. He went into the kitchen for a drink of water and returned with a large kitchen knife.

McGee then ordered them to strip while threatening them with the knife saying: "You are going to play my game and play it according to my rules", adding, while rubbing the knife against his own face: "This is no joke."

He began to subject them to their horrendous four-hour ordeal. First he made them perform oral sex on each other before raping each in turn, all the while swapping the knife from one hand to the other. He told them: "If you don't follow my rules, I will use the knife."

He ejaculated on them and made each lick the semen off him before making them kiss each other. He also anally raped one of them and inserted the handle of the knife into her vagina. She screamed and cried in pain but he ignored her pleas.

Det Sgt McGeary said one of the victims was sure McGee was going to kill her friend and that she would have to watch the horrendous act before she herself was killed.

They both told him they would leave Ireland immediately and go back to Australia without telling anyone if only he would spare their lives. They even offered to go to an internet cafe with him and book their tickets home immediately.

McGee, however, declined their offer and said he could not let them go because if he did that, he would have to kill them. They continued to beg and plead to let them go, and he said: "I am sorry, but I have to kill you."

He left the flat after over four hours of this torture. While still holding the knife he made them dress, dressed himself and threw the knife under a couch in the flat before leaving. The women then called 999.

Det Sgt McGeary said that a male resident of the apartment remained fast asleep in another room right through the victims' ordeal.

Det Sgt McGeary said McGee was arrested the following day from information the victims were able to give and he was firmly linked to the crimes by DNA and fingerprint evidence.

Defence counsel, Mr Peter Finlay SC (with Ms Caroline Biggs BL), said he had no psychiatric or rational explanation to offer the court for his client's behaviour.

He said anyone could only be totally impressed by the fortitude of the two ladies and there was nothing he could say in mitigation for the "evil and wicked behaviour" his client had shown.

Mr Finlay said McGee was remorseful and wished he had never committed the acts he had. He had also been on constant watch during his time in prison as he had shown suicidal behaviour.

Mr Justice Carney interrupted Mr Finlay to say the court would not entertain references to suicidal behaviour as a mitigating factor and he would not be taking it into account in deciding a sentence.

Mr Justice Carney also noted that the two young women had remained in Ireland for the closure of the case, and added: "I have no doubt now the case is closed they will get out of this country as soon as they can."