A convicted rapist who threatened and harassed three female Sunday World journalists has been jailed for 11 years.
Mark McAnaw (53) refused to enter a bond before a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court which would have suspended the final 12 months of the 11-year sentence imposed for the harassment of Nicola Tallant, Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds.
After Judge Pauline Codd had outlined the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence on Thursday, McAnaw’s counsel Rebecca Smith said her client did not wish to enter the bond as he found the conditions “onerous”. As a result, the judge imposed the full 11-year sentence.
Judge Codd also ordered that McAnaw should have no contact either directly or indirectly with the women, should not approach them, go within 10 miles of their homes and workplaces or communicate with them for life.
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McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to the harassment of the three women on various dates in August 2023.
The court heard McAnaw repeatedly sent them emails and messages of a violent and sexually threatening nature, which escalated to him threatening to put a “bullet” in one of them. He also referred to himself as an “IRA Top Boy”.
He also turned up at the offices of the Sunday World on Talbot Street in Dublin and, when refused entry, he went to a cafe across the road. When gardaí approached him there, McAnaw was in the process of writing an email to Ms Tallant.
McAnaw is detained in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). McAnaw does not accept his diagnosis of schizophrenia and has declined to take medication, the court was told.
His previous convictions include the rape of a foreign student in Donegal in October 2010, for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2012.
McAnaw also has a 1989 conviction for kidnapping and convictions for assaults causing actual bodily harm from a court in Northern Ireland in 2011.
He also has a conviction for aggravated assault after attacking a woman in her home in April 2018, for which he received a sentence of eight years and four months in June 2023.
This sentence was backdated to 2018 when he went into custody, with the final 16 months suspended for 16 years on strict conditions. McAnaw was released from custody on this sentence in July 2023 – one month before the harassment of the three journalists took place.
Ms Smith said her client instructs that he found it difficult to abide by the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence imposed in 2023.
A handwritten letter from McAnaw was also handed to the court, which Judge Codd described as “concerning”.
Judge Codd outlined a global sentence of 11 years, with the final 12 months to be suspended on strict conditions for five years.
These included that McAnaw remain under probation supervision for five years, comply with his medical regime, refrain from the use of illicit substances and make available any internet-enabled devices when requested by gardaí.
The judge backdated the sentence to August 2023, when McAnaw went into custody.
Ms Brunker and Ms Reynolds were present in court when the sentence was imposed.
Judge Codd commended the three women for their resilience and courage throughout the process and wished them well for the future.
