Courts / Donegal / Report
Serial rapist gets five years for attack on 18-year-old
Summary
A 37-year-old man from Castlefin, County Donegal, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment by the Central Criminal Court for the rape of an 18-year-old woman at an address in Convoy on 14 January 2018. Desmond Leitch was found guilty by jury following a trial in which evidence showed the victim was heavily intoxicated when she was taken to a spare bedroom and assaulted. The court heard that Leitch has previous convictions for rape and stalking. Mr Justice David Keane imposed the sentence taking into account Leitch's diagnosis of schizophrenia and mild intellectual dysfunction, though a probation report assessed him as posing a high risk of sexual reoffending. The judge backdated the sentence to October 2024 and imposed four years of post-release supervision with the Probation Service, requiring Leitch to comply with all directions issued.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Serial rapist gets five years for attack on 18-year-old. Charges or matters: rape by the Central Criminal Court jury last month; the rape of a woman in 2016, serving a sentence from February 2021 until 2024. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- January 14, 2018 Hearing Or Sentence
- February 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 2024 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2006 and 2008 Incident
- 2021 until 2024 Incident
- 2025-11-14 Publication
Why: The judge outlined again the Probation Service's expressions of serious concern for Leitch's high risk of reoffending, and in order to protect the public and aid in his own rehabilitation, he placed Leitch under the supervision of the Probation Service for four years upon his release from prison. CNI source report
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: rape by the Central Criminal Court jury last month; the rape of a woman in 2016, serving a sentence from February 2021 until 2024 (Proven)
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; He was sentenced to nine months in prison, but upon appeal, this was reduced to eight months. Mr Justice Keane sentenced Leitch to five years in prison, backdated to October 2024, when he entered custody on this matter.
Places mentioned
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