Sentence for 'triumphalist' rapist too soft, court hears

State lawyers battling to have a rapist's jail term increased today insisted the three-year suspended sentence he received was exceedingly lenient.

Adam Keane raped his neighbour, deaf mother-of-three Mary Shannon, as she slept in her bed in Daragh, Co Clare.

The 20-year-old was high on drink and ecstasy and got into the home through the open back door.

Even though the suspended sentence was handed down in March, Keane was locked up last month for flicking a cigarette butt at his victim hours after he had walked free from court.

Mr Justice Paul Carney, the trial judge, then activated the sentence after hearing about the incident branding it a "triumphalist gesture".

But the Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed the three years in jail insisting it is unduly lenient. Judgment was reserved.

Counsel for the state Pauline Whalley SC told the court a suspended sentence for rape was a substantial departure from the norm.

"The three years is very lenient, it is exceedingly lenient. The question is, is it unduly lenient?" she said.

"I am striving to be fair. It was low, it was very low."

Ms Whalley went on: "The reality is if there had not been a breach of the bond it would have still remained a suspended sentence.

"If Mr Keane had not flicked a cigarette he would not be serving a sentence."

The court heard rape was a physical and psychological attack on the integrity of a person with the possibility of a maximum life sentence.

Ms Whalley SC said this showed how seriously both the Oireachtas and society in general viewed sex attacks.

She said only in exceptional cases could a suspended sentence be imposed.

"In this case this is a woman sleeping in her bed… with her hearing aid out, with her children asleep, and with the lights on because she was afraid of the dark," she said.

Mary Shannon waived her right to anonymity after the suspended sentence was handed down in March. It was also severely criticised by politicians and rape crisis centres.

She sat in court with her two sisters as the appeal was heard.

The court heard Ms Shannon lived in fear for two years from the time of the attack in May 2005 until the trial earlier this year. She has suffered post traumatic stress, massive media coverage and a loss of independence.

"This was not a case which warranted a suspended sentence," Ms Whalley said.

In defence of bricklayer Keane his barrister Brendan Nix SC told the court he had blacked out through drink on the night of the attack.

It was not the first time he had done so, arresting gardaí said.

Mr Nix SC said Keane had been recklessly careless forcing his way into Ms Shannon's home thinking it was his girlfriend's.

He also said the young man had decided to leave Ireland and had been living in London, where his father is based, since the initial sentence hearing in March. He returned in May when required by the courts.

Mr Nix SC claimed it would be unsafe for Keane to live anywhere in Ireland due to the amount of publicity the rape trial received.

Keane was also placed on the sex offenders' register in the UK after moving there. He will be on it for life.