Donegal man jailed for six years for rape

A Donegal man has been jailed for six years for attempting to rape a woman while she was sleeping after he had climbed up a drainpipe at her house and got into her bed.

Raymond Gormley (aged 25), a factory worker, with an address at Quiet Moment Apartments, Letterkenny was convicted last November by a jury at the Central Criminal Court following a seven-day trial.

The jury found Gormley guilty of attempted anal rape of the victim on April 24, 2005 and not guilty of sexually assaulting her on the same occasion.

Gormley had denied he anally raped and sexually assaulted the woman after he smoked cannabis and got drunk. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for just over four hours.

The victim said in her victim impact statement: "My moods have darkened and my world is not as sunny and happy as it once was."

She had lost the "security and comfort of sleep" because he attempted to rape her while she slept and "can have bouts of night terrors when I will wake up screaming, crying or begging for an end to the ordeal".

"As I drift off to sleep I don't know if I will sleep through uninterrupted or if I will wake up shaking and crying, trying to get away from a nightmare," she said.

She said Gormley's crime had affected all the members of her family but now that the trial was over they could all move on.

"I do not hate him but I cannot forgive him until he can admit to what he has done. I know that if he had spared me the trial I would have forgiven him a long time ago. I have it within me to forgive him, not just yet."

Mr Justice Paul Carney directed that Gormley be registered as a sex offender and said that from the facts of the case as outlined he accepted and was bound by the principles outlined in the recent Court of Criminal Appeal judgement in the Adam Keane case.

He said the CCA judgement indicated that there must be a substantial and immediate prison sentence for the crime, that Gormley's unlawful entry into the woman's home was an aggravating factor and that the consumption of alcohol was not a mitigating factor.

"There is a significant difference in this case in that penetration was not achieved and he was convicted of attempted rape," Mr Justice Carney said.

He judged the crime as meriting an eight-year sentence and after discounting such factors as available in Gormley's favour, including his lack of previous convictions, good work record and his immaturity, Mr Justice Carney imposed a six-year term to start immediately.

Mr Justice Carney also directed that Gormley undergoes five years post-release supervision.

Sergeant Seamus McGonigle told prosecuting counsel, Mr John Aylmer SC (with Ms Cathleen Noctor BL), that the victim was very distressed when he met her after the incident.

She knew Gormley for some time but she "completely froze" and was "in sheer terror" when she had woken up to find him naked beside her in bed, facing her with his hands down the back of her tracksuit bottoms.

Sgt McGonigle said she had not given him permission to enter her house and he told her he had climbed up a drainpipe and got in through a window she left open in error. She said "no" and told him she was having her period when he tried to have sex with her and claimed he anally raped her despite her efforts to stop him.

Sgt McGonigle said Gormley stopped soon after and sat on the side of her bed saying he had been "a prick" and asking her over and over if he could see her again. She motioned "no" with her head and he left.

Sgt McGonigle agreed with defence counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC (with Mr Edmund Sweetman BL), that Gormley did not use any "gratuitous violence" or threat of violence or any weapons.

Gormley when asked if he knew what he was doing was wrong, told gardaí: "I knew when she asked me to leave I'd done something pretty bad. I wasn't in a right state of mind with the drink."

Sgt McGonigle said Gormley added: "I'm definitely sorry. I feel like a bit of a scum," and agreed that this mirrored his comment to the victim before leaving her home when he asked her if he had been "a prick".

Mr Hugh McBride, a counsellor, said Gormley felt ashamed and was distressed at what happened. Alcohol was central to the situation and Gormley was prepared to deal with that.

Mr McBride told Mr Grehan that Gormley had great difficulty accepting what he done. He deeply regretted it and had expressed remorse. "He remains a quiet and immature individual," Mr McBride said and added that he didn't believe it would ever happen again.

Mr Grehan submitted earlier in relation to the CCA ruling in the Keane case that he had to accept as a fact that Gormley had trespassed on the victim's home but that "all similarities between the two cases ends there".

He submitted that one of the factors the CCA had relied heavily on in the Keane case was that the victim had to move from the locality but said this wasn't an issue in this case. Gormley stopped when she challenged him and didn't use any force, or threats and there were no suggestions that he ever threatened her before or since.

Mr Grehan said his client's immaturity might have led him to misread the reality of the relationship he had with the victim. He had asked the rhetorical question "have I been a prick" when she asked him to stop and he then followed that up by telling gardai he had attempted anal intercourse and he had been wrong.

He said the jury's verdict indicated it accepted his account of the matter and rejected the case put by the prosecution. "He knows that what he did was wrong and apologises to the victim for that," Mr Grehan said.