Man who raped niece ordered to pay her €350,000

The High Court has ordered a farmer from Co Offaly to pay €350,000 to his niece for brutally raping her and sexually assaulting her over 13 years.

The man, who cannot be named, has alleged that his niece, who is now a doctor, had fabricated the allegations in order to defraud him.

He has a criminal conviction for some of the abuse which happened between 1990 and 2003.

Under cross examination, the man openly admitted sexually assaulting both his niece and another young girl who used to babysit his children on numerous occasions.

In its ruling, the High Court found him to be a self-serving witness who showed no real regret and did not appear to believe that what he had done was wrong or that his actions had caused damage.

His niece, who now practices medicine in the UK, was sexually assaulted from the age of 12 and raped violently on a number of occasions from the age of 14. The offences were described as being of the utmost gravity.

Mr Justice John Quirke accepted her testimony and found that her childhood and early adulthood had been blighted by these repeated assaults that continue to give her nightmares.