Man jailed for ‘one of the worst cases of abuse of a daughter’

12-YEAR SENTENCE WITH NINE SUSPENDED

A BRAY MAN who raped his daughter over a 10-year period was sentenced to 12 years, with nine of those suspended due to his ill health.

Patrick O’Brien (72) of Oldcourt Avenue in Bray started raping his daughter Fiona Doyle when she was just seven years old in 1973.

Judge Paul Carney told the Central Criminal Court this week that this was ‘one of the worst cases of abuse of a daughter that you could possibly find,’ and ‘one of the most diffi- cult cases to resolve.’

O’Brien was released on bail pending his appeal.

Fiona broke down in tears during the sentencing hearing on Monday. She gave up her anonymity and gave evidence of a decade of abuse which became ‘as regular as having dinner.’

Her father raped and abused Fiona at their Dun Laoghaire home every time her mother went out to bingo.

She told the court in her victim impact statement that no sentence imposed on O’Brien could ‘undo the enormous damage that my father has done to me.’

The judge said he made his decision to suspend part of the sentence for reasons including illness.

Other mitigating factors that led to the reduction in O’Brien’s sentence included his guilty plea and remorse, the length of time since the offences occurred and his good behaviour in the interim.