Man jailed for eight years for assaulting elderly woman in Charleville

A 21-year-old man who sexually assaulted a woman in her 60s as she walked home from bingo in north Cork has been jailed for eight years.

Liam Smith from Batt Donegan Place, Charleville in Cork pleaded guilty to one count of sexually assaulting the woman and two counts of threatening to kill her in Charleville.

The woman was walking home from bingo at around 9.50pm on September 18, 2011 when Smith dragged her into the driveway and carried out the attack.

The woman told the court that her life has changed totally and that she relives the nightmare assault last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

Judge Patrick Moran noted that Smith was out on a suspended sentence at the time, which he himself had imposed.

He reactivated the two-year suspended sentence for an assault and then imposed an eight-year sentence to run consecutive to that for the sexual assault on the woman.