A Dublin man who was described by a garda as "very evil and dangerous" has been jailed for nine years for raping a 16-yearold girl in a Dublin park. During the hour-long ordeal early one morning last year, Brian Shevlin stabbed the victim in the stomach with a kitchen knife and hit her with his fists. Gardai came to her aid and arrested Shevlin as he was marching her in front of him at knife-point.
Shevlin (20), of Summerhill, Dublin, pleaded guilty to rape, oral rape and maliciously wounding the girl on September 21st, 1996.
Prosecution counsel, Mr Sean Ryan SC, said the girl told gardai she had walked out of her suburban home and into the city to "clear her head" after a disagreement with a relative.
She said Shevlin had put the knife to her throat and forced her to climb over railings into the park at Mountjoy Square.
Garda Paul Cleary told the Central Criminal Court that a woman in Temple Street Hospital heard the girl's screams and rang the Gardai.
He said Shevlin had been jailed for four years in 1993 for sexually assaulting a woman near Temple Street Hospital. He had eight previous convictions.
Garda Cleary said he had known Shevlin for a number of years and believed he was evil and very dangerous.
Defence counsel, Mr Erwan Mill Arden SC, said Shevlin's sentence should be kept under review as he was a "classic case in need of assistance". He also asked the court to direct that his client get all necessary treatment.
Mr Mill Arden said Shevlin had been a good student and relatively free of trouble until the age of 14. After that he had become an "angry young man" who had difficulty with authority.
He said Mr Justice Moriarty had been the Circuit Court judge who had sentenced Shevlin to four years' imprisonment in 1993 for the first sexual offence. Shevlin was released when his case was reviewed in July 1995. However, the sentence was reimposed because he continued to commit offences.
Mr Mill Arden said Mr Justice Moriarty had been so concerned about Shevlin that he had ordered him to get psychiatric treatment and sex-offender counselling. Due to the violent nature of his crimes, Shevlin was judged to be unsuitable for the sex-offender treatment programme and finished his sentence in May 1996.
Mr Justice Carney said that while some other judges reviewed cases he did not. He followed the precedent of the Anthony Cahill case in which it was stated that the function of the trial judge concluded once sentence was imposed.
He suspended the final 13 months of the term to take into account the time Shevlin has already spent in custody.