The Court of Appeal has increased the sentence imposed on T.S. for raping his wife in their Rathmines home after finding that the original sentence was unduly lenient.
T.S. had been convicted of one count of rape under section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 and two counts of sexual assault. The offences occurred on August 30, 2015, following an argument between the couple in their studio flat.
The complainant told the trial that T.S. restrained her, forcibly removed her clothing and raped and sexually assaulted her. She reported the offences to Gardaí the following day.
After a three-week Central Criminal Court trial in July 2018, T.S. was convicted of the section 4 rape and two sexual assaults. A directed acquittal was entered on an assault count and the jury disagreed on a separate vaginal rape count.
At sentencing, the judge selected a six-year headline sentence for the rape. After mitigation, this was reduced to five years, with the final two years suspended. The complainant had written to the court asking for clemency, citing the effect of imprisonment on the couple’s children, family finances and her hopes of rebuilding family life.
The Court of Appeal held that the sentencing judge had handled that plea for mercy correctly. A victim’s forgiving attitude can be considered, but cannot determine sentence because a criminal offence is not merely a private wrong.
The error instead lay in the starting point. The appeal court found that six years was too low given the physical restraint, forced removal of clothing, pain caused, humiliation and significant breach of trust involved in marital rape.
It substituted a ten-year headline sentence. After mitigation, that was reduced to seven and a half years. The final two years remain suspended, producing an effective custodial term of five and a half years.
The concurrent three-year sexual assault sentences and post-release supervision were left unchanged.