Mícheál Ó Leidhin jailed for sexual assault

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

Former RTÉ journalist Mícheál Ó Leidhin was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with the final three months suspended, for sexually assaulting a woman while she slept. The sentencing proceedings were reported on 26 July 2022.

A jury found Ó Leidhin guilty of the assault, which took place at his home after he and the woman met on a night out in May 2018. The woman reported the incident to gardaí in April 2019.

The court heard that they had engaged in consensual sexual activity, but the woman said she did not want to have sex because they had no contraception. She gave evidence that she woke to find Ó Leidhin on top of her, groping her breasts, and told him to get off. She said she had not consented.

In a statement to gardaí, Ó Leidhin said he had wanted to resume their earlier sexual activity and had tried to wake the woman. He said he stopped when she asked him to.

Judge Karen O’Connor said the woman’s being asleep in his home made the assault a breach of trust. She also identified its impact on her as an aggravating factor. The woman told the court she had become depressed and suicidal and had made an attempt on her life.

Defence counsel Bernard Condon said Ó Leidhin accepted the jury’s verdict and had expressed remorse and regret. The judge said a probation report indicated that he accepted the verdict but not its import. She said he was of previous good character and had an impressive work history.

The judge allowed Ó Leidhin to postpone the start of his sentence until Monday morning to give him time to lodge an appeal. He was to present himself at Mountjoy Prison at 10am.