Ardrahan man sentenced to four and a half years for sexual assaults on teenager

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Pat Howley, 72, of Ardrahan was sentenced at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to four and a half years in prison for sexually assaulting a teenager. The final 18 months were suspended for three years, and he was placed under Probation Service supervision for 12 months after release.

Howley had pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on a full facts basis, relating to incidents between February and December 2006, when the complainant was aged 13 to 14. The court heard that he befriended her family and assaulted her when she was alone. The complainant’s identity was withheld.