A man who dragged a woman into bushes and subjected her to almost seven hours of violent rape and sexual molestation has been jailed for 10 years by Mr Justice Kinlen at the Central Criminal Court.
A jury convicted Jeremiah Rigney (39), of Cashel Road, Crumlin, Dublin, on five charges of rape, anal rape, aggravated sexual assault, false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on the woman early on the morning of July 15th-16th, 1996, in a west Dublin park.
The jury took three hours on November 6th to return guilty verdicts following a four-day trial. The jury acquitted Rigney of a sixth charge of oral rape.
Det Garda Mary Murphy told Mr Robert Barton, prosecuting, that Rigney was married but separated and had 14 previous convictions.
These included one for assaulting his wife and one for assaulting a garda. Most were for larceny, burglary, receiving and road traffic offences.
The woman's ordeal began at about 10.30 p.m. on July 15th and continued until about 5.30 a.m. on July 16th, 1996. She had been walking along the footpath at the park when Rigney dragged her into the bushes.
The jury heard that a motorist had alerted gardai about having seen someone being dragged along the footpath, but a search of park boundaries revealed nothing.
Det Garda Murphy agreed with Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC (with Ms Mary Ellen Ring), defending, that none of Rigney's previous convictions was for a sexual offence. He had a serious drink problem at the time he raped the woman.
Mr Justice Kinlen noted Rigney still maintained the woman had consented to sexual activity with him in the bushes but said the jury had not accepted that. Drink had played a large role in the attack.
Mr Justice Kinlen said he hoped that, while in prison, Rigney would gain a better insight into his offending and especially into his alcohol problem.
The judge said Rigney faced a maximum of life imprisonment for four of the crimes he committed on his victim, but the sentence he was imposing might seem longer than life.
He imposed two sentences of 10 years, two of eight years and one of five on Rigney to date from November 6th, the sentences to run concurrently.
He noted Rigney had already taken steps, including a spell in Coolmine Therapeutic Centre, to deal with his alcohol problem and hoped he would attend Alcoholics Anonymous in prison.
If Rigney co-operated in his own recovery, the judge said, he would recommend that the balance of the sentence be suspended at a review on November 7th, 2002, on condition that Rigney then undertook not to contact his victim on release and to keep the peace.