Homeless Wicklow sex offender jailed for breaching notification rules
The Wicklow PeopleA registered sex offender who was living in a tent in Greystones and failed to notify gardaí of his whereabouts has been jailed for 10 months.
Trevor McDonagh (27), of Ballywaltrim Heights, Bray, appeared at a sitting of Bray District Court for sentencing.
He pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with ongoing notification requirements, including a failure to notify gardai every three days of the specific location where he intended to reside on January 15, three counts of theft and one charge of intoxication in a public place.
The accused is a registered sex offender after being convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl following a Central Criminal Court trial in 2017.
Mr McDonagh was 15 years old when he lured the girl down a laneway with another boy.
He pushed her against a wall, rubbed himself against her and bit her on the breast when she struggled to get away.
Back in 2017, the court heard that Mr McDonagh stopped the rape and ran off after thinking gardaí were nearby.
His victim suffered hair loss and constant seizures as a result of the rape. She said the incident was "disgusting, dirty, unwanted" and happened down a cold lane where nobody could hear her "screaming for my mammy".
Sergeant Mick Dee told the court that Mr McDonagh stole from Aldi on the Boghall Road on September 28, 2025, and October 8, where he was observed taking a bottle of red wine and placing it into his jumper before leaving the store.
He added that Mr McDonagh was arrested on the Vevay Road on November 10, 2025, for being drunk in a public place, after gardaí observed him stumbling and slurring his words.
The court heard that the defendant has 56 previous convictions, including four for assault, 30 for theft-related offences and one for failing to notify gardaí of a change of address, for which he is currently serving a sentence and is due to be released in October 2026.
Solicitor for the accused, Joe Maguire, stated that his sexual assault conviction has affected his life, as his family no longer associate with him, with him also being homeless as he is “isolated from his natural hinterland”.
In mitigation, Mr Maguire remarked that Mr McDonagh “took to the drink” after his release, as he struggled to assimilate into society due to his institutionalisation.
Mr McDonagh was released on temporary release and has been living in a tent in Burnaby Park in Greystones and at Bray Head, which caused gardaí to “worry about his health”.
Sgt Dee stated that gardaí checked an address at Burnaby Park on five occasions, noting Mr McDonagh could not be located.
However Mr McDonagh is the second convicted sex offender to frequent Burnaby Park in recent months after John Connors (43), who received an 11-month sentence for the same offence in February 2026.
Mr Connors was placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely in 2008 after being found guilty of the rape of a woman in 2006 in County Waterford, while her two-year-old daughter was in the house.
Judge David Kennedy sentenced the convicted sexual offender to ten months imprisonment for failing to notify gardaí of his whereabouts and took the remaining matters into consideration.