Court of Appeal reserves judgment on three men’s appeals against rape sentences

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

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment on sentence appeals by Dion Genockey, Daryl Rooney and Troy Ryan. Their lawyers argued that the men should have received shorter sentences because they were 17 when they committed the offence. Judge Patrick McCarthy sat with Judge Nuala Butler and Judge Tara Burns.

The three were each convicted of raping a vulnerable 18-year-old woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5, 2016. Their convictions followed a second trial at the Central Criminal Court in March 2022; the jury at their first trial in 2020 could not reach a verdict.

Judge David Keane sentenced Genockey to nine years, Rooney to 10 years and Ryan to nine and a half years. Ryan’s counsel said the judge also imposed a two-year post-supervision order. The sentencing court heard that all three maintained their innocence and did not accept the jury’s verdict.

The men’s lawyers raised their youth and other mitigating factors. Rooney’s counsel also argued that the judge was wrong not to consider suspending part of his sentence. Ryan’s counsel argued that the judge’s decision against a suspended sentence was at odds with the post-supervision order intended to encourage rehabilitation.

For the Director of Public Prosecutions, Eilis Brennan urged the court to refuse the appeals, saying the trial judge had given a carefully reasoned decision and the maximum discount for immaturity. She said there was no evidential basis for suspending any portion of the sentences.

The earlier report on Genockey’s and Rooney’s conviction appeals also recorded that the Court of Appeal would give judgment later.