Dublin man jailed for sexually assaulting his wife with objects

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

A Dublin man was sentenced on 15 January 2024 to 12 years in prison, with the final year suspended on conditions including that he undertake a course on sexuality and consent after his release. Justice Paul Burns imposed the sentence. The man cannot be named to protect his wife's anonymity.

A jury found him guilty on 11 counts of sexually assaulting his wife by penetrating her vagina with objects. The offences took place at the family home on unknown dates between January 2005 and September 2014.

He had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 15 counts. The charges alleged vaginal penetration with various objects and included allegations of anal rape and penetration of his wife's anus with his thumb. The proceedings were reported on 24 October 2022.

The guilty verdicts followed a retrial. The first jury acquitted him on four counts and could not agree on the remaining counts. He had no previous convictions and maintained his innocence.

The State's case was that the woman was unconscious and unable to consent. The court previously heard that she discovered images on her husband's computer in March 2019. In his defence, the man said he believed she had consented to every sexual activity and that there was never enough alcohol involved to impair her judgment.

In garda interviews, he said he did not recognise images alleged to show him raping her and did not know who had taken them. He said the laptop had been used for work and that colleagues and his wife had access to it.