Man jailed for five years for rape at Kildare house party

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

A man was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for raping a sleeping woman at a house party in Co Kildare. The sentencing proceedings were reported on 31 July 2020.

He pleaded not guilty to one count of rape. The offence took place on 21 June 2015. After a week-long trial, a jury found him guilty at the Central Criminal Court on 27 November 2019.

The woman told the trial she had fallen asleep in her clothes and awoke to find the man having sex with her. She said she screamed at him to get off her and ran from the room.

The man accepted that sexual intercourse had taken place. His defence was that the woman was awake, made space for him in the bed and consented to sex before changing her mind.

In her victim impact statement, the woman described the effects on her ability to sleep, eat and care for her children. Her own bed, she said, had become “a hateful place”.

Paul Greene SC, defending, said his client regretted the position the woman found herself in and asked for leniency, citing his good previous character and stable life. Mr Justice Michael White said the offence was aggravated by its impact on the woman and the predatory nature of the attack. He also took account of the man’s previous character, employment record, age at the time and references before imposing the sentence.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.