A Tipperary man was jailed for six years yesterday following his conviction by a jury last year for raping his teenaged niece on four occasions in 1995.
The court also heard that the victim still feared her uncle and his family and was afraid he would get bail pending an appeal.
The victim impact report further disclosed that she was worried her father would "take the law into his own hands and do something foolish".
Mr Justice Frederick Morris refused applications by defence counsel Mr Michael Counihan in the Central Criminal Court for leave to appeal, and for bail pending an appeal application.
In the light of a plea for leniency by Mr Counihan, Mr Justice Morris suspended the final two years of the six-year term.
Mr Justice Morris said he had not been impressed by the manner in which the defendant had instructed his counsel to defend the case. He said the man had attempted to vilify his niece by accusing her of attempted extortion.
Mr Michael Durack SC, prosecuting, said that the defendant, a married father from south Tipperary, went on trial in November and denied five charges of raping her in 1995, when she was aged 13. He also denied five alternative counts of having unlawful carnal knowledge her.
The man claimed his niece had been using the rape allegations to extort money from him. He was convicted by a jury on four counts of rape after a five-day trial.
He was found not guilty on one charge of rape and on one of having unlawful carnal knowledge in March 1995.
The jury had been told it did not have to return verdicts on the carnal knowledge counts if it convicted on the corresponding rape charges.