Man jailed for raping sister's best friend

A Kildare man has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court for raping a then teenage woman, his sister’s best friend, in a GAA grounds two years ago.

Michael O’Neill (aged 24), a father of one of Bishopsland, Kildare was also certified by Mr Justice Carney as a sex offender under the legislation and directed that he undergo five years post release supervision.

He was convicted by a jury of two women and ten men that he raped the then 18-year-old woman on March 7, 2004 at St Brigid’s Park, otherwise known as Round Towers GAA, in Kildare. The jury returned its 10-2 majority verdict on day eight of trial in April.

The victim told the court she wanted him named for the protection of others. She said the rape had fractured her friendship with O’Neill’s sister through they tried to remain friends afterwards. She suffered sleeplessness and panic attacks afterwards but didn’t go for counselling because she didn’t want to tell strangers about it.

Mr Brendan Grehan SC (with Mr Vincent Nolan BL), defending, said O’Neill still protested his innocence of the rape which happened after "an amorous interchange" despite his admissions to gardai afterwards that generally matched the complainant’s account. These admissions were ruled out of evidence in the trial.

Mr Grehan submitted many testimonials for O’Neill from family and friends, present and past employers who said he was a reliable, hard worker, and from the mother of his seven year old daughter who said the child "loves him dearly and misses him terribly". The child’s mother described him as a kind, loving father who took his parental responsibility seriously.

Mr Justice Carney said the case was typical of so many that come before the court where a large consumption of alcohol, sometimes accompanied by drugs, result in people of previously good character appearing before the court on a killing or rape charge.

Mr Justice Carney noted that the rape was accompanied by "a credible threat to kill" while other "aggravating factors" which often appeared in these cases were absent. There was also evidence that O’Neill expressed genuine remorse afterwards and seemed "to have snapped out of the horror" of what he had done.

Mr Justice Carney said O’Neill also had a seven-year-old daughter and had strong support with many testimonials in his favour. While a rape of this nature would generally be expected to attract a double figures sentence, he said that in balancing all the factors as best he could, he would impose an eight-year prison term.

Garda Karen Pound told Mr Noel Whelan BL (with Ms Pauline Walley SC), prosecuting, that the victim claimed O’Neill threatened "to snap" her neck and asked her "Do you want to die?" unless she stopped resisting him when he raped her after they had been kissing each other in a disco and on the street.

While the woman and O’Neill walked along after going to a fast-food outlet following the disco, he picked her up a few times with her legs wrapped around him and they continued kissing.

O’Neill suggested they take a short-cut through a lane but he then picked her up again with her legs wrapped around his body and took her into the football grounds. Her handbag dropped and she tried to get down several times, telling him "to cop on" but he kept holding her up and continued carrying her while saying nothing.

The woman had told the jury he put her against a wall and while she continued to protest he put his hand over her mouth. She bit his finger and he then bit her nose before he put her down on the ground and had one hand around her neck while he pulled down her trousers with the other and raped her.

While this was happening, she was crying and pleading with him to stop. When he rolled over eventually saying "What the fuck have I done?" she got up, grabbed her bag and ran off.

Gda Pound agreed with Mr Grehan that O’Neill phoned his sister and said to her to look out for the victim because he thought he "had done something stupid" before adding: "I think I attempted to rape her."