Jail for convicted stalker who sexually assaulted wife

A man in his early forties has been imprisoned for three and a half years following his conviction on sexual assault and assault charges at the Central Criminal Court in Castlebar. The jury found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault against his wife and one count of assault causing harm, relating to an incident in Galway city in October 2017. A rape charge could not proceed after the jury failed to reach agreement; the Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently discontinued this count with the victim's consent. The court heard the man forced his wife to a wooded area where he assaulted her, threatening violence and repeatedly striking her. The woman escaped and reported the incident to gardaí. Ms Justice Carmel Stewart imposed a four-and-a-half-year sentence with the final year suspended, backdated to his custody date in April 2019. The judge commended the victim for her courage in coming forward.