A WATERFORD man who raped a woman in the factory where he worked has been jailed for three years by the Central Criminal Court.
Barry O'Shea, a 23-year-old machinist, of William Street, Portlaw, is also to pay £3,000 compensation to the woman. He admitted raping her in his workplace, Celtic Engineering, at the Tycor Industrial Estate, Waterford, in the early morning of April 9th-10th, 1994.
Sgt Michael Quinlan said the woman did not want O'Shea to be jailed and she had no objection to compensation. All she wanted was O'Shea to plead guilty and say he was wrong.
Mr Justice Carney said his sentence could lawfully be criticised trenchantly but it could not be misrepresented. If it was misrepresented he would deal with it using the full rigour of the laws governing contempt of court.
He said he was taking into account the victim's requirement for a guilty plea and a public acknowledgement by O'Shea of wrongdoing.
Mr Justice Carney said he had to take the woman's views into account but the Supreme Court had also indicated that the public good had to be vindicated.
He was also taking into account the attitude of local gardai. Sgt Quinlan had said he believed the chances of O'Shea reoffending were nil; he was very well liked in his home town and at work, and that he had no previous convictions.
He was further taking into account that the defendant had an offer of work open to him, was in a stable relationship and that he would have a network of support on his release. Finally he had to have regard to the diktat of Mrs Justice Denham of the Supreme Court that courts could not be concerned with revenge.
Sgt Quinlan told the prosecutor, Mr Patrick Gageby SC (with Ms Isobel Kennedy), that the rape victim had developed an eating disorder which caused her to blackout at the wheel of her car. As a result of an accident she was without a car.
She met O'Shea at a disco in Waterford, to which she had driven from Kilkenny. After dancing she agreed to go to see the factory where he worked. O'Shea let them into the factory with keys. He showed her around and then they kissed and cuddled a small bit by consent.
She asked to leave but O'Shea turned off the factory lights. They went back to a control room to look for light switches. O'Shea was interested in having sex and he put his hand over her mouth.
The woman feared her life was in danger so she let him have sex with her. The rape occurred on the floor and on a work bench. Later she asked to go to the toilet and waited until she could run out of the building.
The next day she brought gardai to the factory and they found O'Shea there. In an initial statement he claimed she had consented to sex. But later he admitted he had been in the wrong and had refused to let her go.
He said he had a lot of drink taken arid felt bad while raping her. He apologised to her in his second statement.