Tuesday, February 18, 2014
24 Feb—02 Mar 2014 www.dineindublin.ie
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judge warns rapist he can’t ‘buy his way out’ A DEVELOPER who raped a Brazilian woman hired to clean his house has been sentenced to seven and a half years after a judge said he couldn’t ‘buy himself out’ of a custodial sentence. However, Justice Barry White also said the victim had not been very affected by the rape and was ‘more interested in compensation rather than anything else’. Father-of-four Thomas Egan, 47, of Cahermurphy, Kilmihill, Co Clare, paid more than €10,000 in court to be forwarded to his victim, who has since returned to Brazil. Justice White suspended the final three and a half years of the sentence, noting Egan had a previous ‘unblemished record’ apart from a minor road traffic offence. Egan was convicted last May by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping the 23-yearold at a house in Tipperary on July 5, 2010. He had denied the charge. While admitting having sex with the woman, Egan told gardaí it was consensual. During the trial, Seán Gillane SC prosecuting, said Egan had approached the victim in Gort, Co Galway, and asked her to clean a house in Tipperary, to which they travelled. Upstairs in the house, Egan started to kiss and touch her and tried to take her clothes off.
by jeSSIcA mAgee
‘She knew at that stage he wanted sex. She was afraid if she said “No” to him it would make matters worse,’ said Mr Gillane. After the rape, the woman put on her clothes and asked Egan to drive her home. The next day, she filed a complaint and returned to Brazil a short time later. Defence Counsel Brendan Grehan SC put it to Garda witness Colette Acton that the woman didn’t put up any resistance, to which the garda replied: ‘She was afraid.’ Conor McKenna BL, also acting for the defence, said Egan had made an offer of €10,000 to ‘ease the victim’s financial woes’ but had been unable to get the money to the victim until now because of transfer difficulties. He also said Egan was prepared to offer the victim a further €5,000 a year for three years. However the court heard Egan would not be able to follow through on this if his circumstances were ‘radically altered’ by imprisonment. Mr Justice White said that on reading the victim impact report that she had provided, he did not believe the rape had had ‘a profound psychological effect’ on her. ‘It strikes me that your victim is more interested in compensation rather than anything else,’ he said.
Offer of €10,000 made to victim
WARM WELCOME: President Michael D Higgins and wife Sabina are greeted at Cineworld on Parnell Street by singer Imelda May before a festival screening of documentary Inequality for All, as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival Picture: PA
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