A 24-year-old Connemara man, who sexually assaulted his neighbour's child before throwing her into a well and holding her head underwater, was given a four-year suspended sentence at Galway Circuit Court yesterday.
Judge Carroll Moran had told the man at the initial trial last July that he was as much a victim himself - of the poisonous atmosphere cultivated by his parents. Their hatred of the girl's family, who had bought a house nearby, was likened by Judge Moran to that of the families in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The girl, who is now 12, had told the court in July that she was walking to a friend's house when the defendant grabbed her from behind, put his hand over her mouth and sexually assaulted her. He then hit her with a small stone and sexually assaulted her again.
Later, he threw her into a nearby well and held her head underwater before letting her go.
The girl said that just before the assault, she saw the young man's parents sniggering at her outside their own house. The man denied the charges of sexual and common assault and continued to protest his innocence after being found guilty.
Judge Moran said this had been a very serious case but, as the child's father had indicated his family did not want the man to go to prison, he had imposed the suspended sentence.
Judge Moran said the girl's father had made a magnanimous gesture by asking the court not to send the assailant to prison. "He was grateful that the jury believed his daughter and he wanted any sentence imposed to reflect equal measures of justice and mercy," he said.