DUBLIN CRIMINAL Stephen "Rossi" Walsh, who is serving a 10- year sentence for rape, has received a further three years for indecently assaulting a seven-year- old girl more than 20 years ago.
Walsh (63) was found guilty by a jury following a three-day trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last month of two charges of indecent assault against the child between May and September 1988.
He is serving a sentence imposed last February for raping a nine-year-old-girl in the early 1990s.
Walsh, formerly of Belgrave Road, Rathgar, but who gave his address as "the Irish Republic", represented himself throughout the trial. His pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf after he refused to take part in the arraignment process while the jury was being sworn in.
He told Judge Patrick McCartan that he was taking "no hand, act, or part" in yesterday's sentence hearing after his application challenging the legality of procedures bringing him before the court, and his request to have the hearing adjourned while he appealed the conviction, was refused.
Judge McCartan said Walsh, who was a "serious criminal", had taken advantage of a young girl and the woman had been obliged to relive the experience again during the trial where she was cross-examined by Walsh.
"I have a clear recollection of her stressed condition," he said.
He imposed a three-year sentence which will begin on the expiration of his 10-year term. The judge said he hoped the woman could move forward with her life and that things would be better for her in the future.
During the trial, the now 29- year-old victim told Tara Burns, prosecuting, that on the two occasions when she visited Walsh's home at the time, he made her lie face down on a bed with a pillow under her stomach. She said Walsh lay on top of her and moved "as if he was having sex", and she heard moaning noises.
The victim was cross-examined during the trial by Walsh who asked her why it had taken her so long to come forward. She replied: "Because I was ashamed. You hurt me and when you tell people you have to deal with it."
She later said: "I was ashamed. I felt dirty and ashamed. You know, you were there. You don't know how upsetting it is; you don't know how this has affected my life, and you can stand there and question me. You say you want your rights, what about the rights of a child?"
Det Garda Barry Walsh told Ms Burns that a complaint by the victim was made to gardaí in April 2007 and Walsh was arrested in July of that year.
Det Garda Walsh said the offences continued to have a serious effect on the woman's life and relationships, and she had attempted suicide.
Her victim-impact statement was handed to the judge but was not read in open court.
Walsh has 16 previous convictions for offences, including the rape, post-dating this offence, as well as earlier offences dating back to 1965. In 1993 he received a 15- year sentence at the Special Criminal Court for arson.
He has also been convicted of armed robbery, road traffic offences, larceny and malicious damage.
During the trial last month, Walsh employed several legal tactics in his defence including challenging the jurisdiction of the court and the legality of his detention and charge. He also complained of adverse pre-trial publicity.
During his closing speech at the trial, Walsh said he had been stigmatised and had no one he could call to give evidence on his behalf.
"I have no one I can go up to and say 'can you help me?' because no one wants to know someone in my position, and rightly so," he said.
"I cannot prove where I was. I cannot prove anything."
STEPHEN 'ROSSI' WALSH: CONVICTIONS FOR ARMED ROBBERY, LARCENY AND ASSAULT
SOME OF the escapades of Dubliner Stephen “Rossi” Walsh (63) have gone down in gangland folklore. After showing early promise at football he turned to gang crime and fighting legal battles.
He lived most of his life in Dublin’s south inner city. As a young man he played football for Shelbourne FC. He is nicknamed after Italian striker Paolo Rossi.
His football talent gave way to crime, with early convictions for gangland crime, armed robbery, larceny and assault. He then ran protection rackets in the 1980s.
In 1992, he was almost killed when an arson attempt on a Dublin pub went wrong and the building exploded while he was inside. During his trial Walsh represented himself.
Walsh, a married father of three, was sentenced to 15 years for the arson attack. At the time he was living in a four-bedroom house in Sandymount, Dublin 4, despite having no legitimate income.
While on bail awaiting trial for arson, he had a number of brushes with the law, including a driving ban and an assault on two girls and three women.
Walsh took pride in studying the law and involving himself in a wide range of cases, including a Supreme Court case on voting rights for inmates.
In 2005, when he should have been serving a sentence for assaulting a prison officer, he challenged the legitimacy of the warrant used to detain him and walked free.
Last February, he got a 10-year jail term for raping a nine-year-old girl in the 1990s. He will be in his 70s on release and is unlikely to return to his old stomping ground for fear of being attacked.