Rape sentence increased

A Dublin man who viciously raped and threatened to kill a woman after dragging her from a busy public road has had his seven-…

A Dublin man who viciously raped and threatened to kill a woman after dragging her from a busy public road has had his seven-year jail term increased to 9½ years by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, presiding at the appeal court, described the rape inflicted by Gary Kinsella as “every woman’s nightmare”. Kinsella had stalked his victim as she walked home from a city centre gym, beat her about the face and threatened to kill her as he dragged her from a busy street on to the grounds of a presbytery where he raped her.

Yesterday the three-judge CCA upheld arguments by the DPP that the sentence imposed on Kinsella was unduly lenient and increased it to one of 10 years in prison with the final six months suspended.