A Kerry man who was convicted of living off the earnings of prostitution and of assault has had his sentence adjourned.
James McDonagh (28), a security worker, was convicted in April by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after a four-day trial of living in part or whole on the earnings of his 16-year-old girlfriend and a 14-year-old girl, who were working as prostitutes.
He was also convicted of threatening his girlfriend and of assaulting her.
McDonagh, with an address at North Strand Road, Dublin, who formerly lived in Listowel and Tralee, pleaded guilty to seven further charges of having unlawful carnal knowledge of his girlfriend. All the offences happened between April and July 1999.
The jury found McDonagh not guilty on further charges of applying force to his girlfriend, sexually assaulting her and of threatening to kill her at his flat.
Mr Peter Finlay SC, defending, described as "inflammatory and salacious" reporting of the verdict and claimed the in camera rule had been breached, with McDonagh being identified in the media.
Mr Finlay said his client had been "violated" not only by being named, but also by the publication of a large photograph and offensive headline in the Irish Mirror on April 20th describing McDonagh as a "beast". "It is grossly irresponsible to describe any human being as a beast," Mr Finlay said.
He added that to put beyond doubt the identity of the accused was to put beyond doubt the identity of the girls. McDonagh's former girlfriend told Judge Dominic Lynch her concerns about the reporting. "Since he has been named in the papers I have been hassled and humiliated, and different accusations have been made about me that are untrue," she said.
Judge Lynch said he could not change what had already been reported and ordered the media not to report in a way that would identify the victims. He made no order about McDonagh's identification.
Sgt Walter O'Sullivan told Mr Hugo Hynes, prosecuting, that McDonagh had 14 previous convictions, including larceny, offences under the Firearms Act, common assault and burglary. He said he had been an active member of Sinn Fein in Dublin but had since been dismissed by the party.
Mr Finlay asked Judge Lynch to consider and evaluate the credibility of what he described as wildly exaggerated statements made to a doctor by the girls in the victim impact report.
The court should also take into account the fact that his client had been institutionalised and had spent much of his life in care. His previous convictions did not include sexual offences, and he was not a man who preyed on women and mistreated them.
Mr Finlay said that in his view the reference to Sinn Fein was immaterial. His client was a man who had come to court with his "hands up", pleaded guilty to a number of charges and had spent 11 months in custody.
