THE BROTHER of Danny Foley, who was convicted this week of sexually assaulting a woman in Listowel, Co Kerry, in June 2008, has called on people not to “shun” the victim in the case.
Tim Foley said neither his brother nor his family would want this to happen to her.
He also said that the queue which formed in the courtroom to sympathise with his brother, prior to the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, had been “spontaneous” and was not designed to intimidate the victim.
Mr Foley was speaking on Radio Kerry early yesterday.
Asked about the shunning of the victim in Listowel by supporters of his brother, Mr Foley said: “My own family and Danny himself would not want anything like that to happen. People can show their support for Danny in other ways.
“It’s the week before Christmas.Good will to all. We don’t want people taking things into their own hands and shunning someone. We are going to go through an appeals system. There is no need to shun anyone.”
The girlfriend of the convicted man, Michelle O’Sullivan, said she had no control over other people and said “they are not getting any encouragement from us to treat that girl any differently. I see no need for it. I see nothing to be gained from it.”
She revealed she met Danny Foley in March this year and they became engaged on her birthday, November 30th. This was just days before the opening of the case at the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee.
Explaining why people queued to sympathise with his brother, Mr Foley said: “We have had no contact with the victim. We were there for Danny and for Danny only. They came along because they wanted to support Danny and they believed Danny. Nobody organised anything.
“We went because we hadn’t been able to contact him since he was found guilty. We wanted to shake hands with him – he’s our brother, our son. People followed suit. It was a spontaneous reaction. We had no idea that girl was going to be in court.”
Mr Foley also said the case had affected a lot of people in Listowel “on both sides”.