Gary Coffey jailed for rape and sexual assault

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

Gary Coffey was sentenced to six years in prison, with the final nine months suspended, after a jury found him guilty of anal rape and sexual assault. The sentence leaves five years and three months to serve.

The offences took place at Coffey’s home in January 2023. His Central Criminal Court trial was held in March 2025. The proceedings were reported on 21 June 2025.

Sentencing Coffey on Thursday, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor set a headline sentence of seven years and reduced it to six years after considering mitigation and his personal circumstances. She suspended the final nine months on strict conditions, including 12 months’ Probation Service supervision after release, and backdated the sentence to when he entered custody in March.

The judge cited as an aggravating factor that the offending happened in Coffey’s home, where the woman had been invited and should have been safe. She noted that consent to sexual activity can be withdrawn and that the jury heard there was consent to some sexual activity but not to anal sex.

The court heard that Coffey and the woman met on an online dating site. She refused his request for anal sex and told him he did not have her consent. After Coffey anally raped her with his finger, she left the house and contacted a rape crisis centre and gardaí.

In mitigation, Seamus Clarke SC, defending, referred to a psychological report indicating that Coffey potentially had a form of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as mental health issues. Clarke said Coffey now accepted he was wrong and did not have the woman’s consent. The probation report concluded that, while Coffey accepted the jury’s verdict, he was not accepting responsibility for the rape.