Woman says ‘she can finally move on from dark chapter’ as attacker jailed for six years

A woman who was raped and sexually assaulted by a friend when they were both teenagers has told a court she can “finally move on from this dark chapter in my life”.

The Central Criminal Court heard that Iollan Tynan Kelleher (22) of Mary’s Road, Dundalk, Co Louth, was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault against the first injured party. The defendant pleaded guilty in advance of his trial to one count of sexual assault against a second injured party. The offending took place in various locations in Co Louth between July 2017 and September 2018. He has no previous convictions.

Both injured parties, in this case, said they wanted Iollan Tynan Kelleher to be named but wished to maintain their own anonymity.

Passing sentence, Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said that Tynan Kelleher was sixteen years of age when he carried out the rape, and that she must consider his age and culpability when sentencing.

Judge Biggs said if the defendant had been an adult when he carried out the rape offence, the headline sentence would be seven years. She said the aggravating factors with regards to the rape charge included the breach of trust, the injured party’s young age, that the injured party had asked the defendant to stop and that there was a level of force used as he was pinning her down.

The judge sentenced Tynan Kelleher to three years and nine months in prison for the rape offence. She further sentenced him to eleven months for the sexual assault of the same injured party, with both sentences to run concurrently.

Judge Biggs sentenced Tynan Kelleher to two years and three months for the sexual assault of the second injured party, which is to run consecutively with the previous sentence, giving a combined global sentence of six years.

The judge said, “There is room for rehabilitation,” and suspended the final twelve months of the sentence for twelve months. She placed Tynan Kelleher under the supervision of the probation services for three years post-release and placed him on the sex offenders register for five years.

Judge Biggs spoke directly to both injured parties in this case and said, “I would like to commend the witnesses in the case and wish them the very best for the future. Without them, these types of prosecutions cannot go ahead.”

At a previous hearing, Detective Garda Stacy Linnane told Seamus Clarke SC, prosecuting, that they were a group of friends in a family home when the parents were away. The group, which was mostly girls and Tynan Kelleher, watched Netflix and ate ice cream.

The court heard that the group discussed getting alcohol, and a bottle of Fat Frog and a slab of Bulmers was bought. The defendant became “handsy” and was touching all the girls and kissed one of them. He was brought downstairs and given water to drink.

The garda said that while Tynan Kelleher was in the living room downstairs, he made advances to kiss the first injured party. She told him to stop, but he tried repeatedly. One of the girls came downstairs as she was feeling sick due to having consumed alcohol. The defendant was kept away from this girl, and this annoyed him, the court heard.

The court heard that while in the living room, Tynan Kelleher told his friend, the first injured party, that he “wanted to have sex”. He then grabbed her and asked her to give him oral sex, to which she declined. He then pushed her onto the sofa, and, using his body weight, he removed her shorts and penetrated her vagina with his penis. The girl did not know how long it lasted but was held down, crying and described it as “hurting”. The defendant was aged sixteen, and the injured party was aged fifteen on the night in question.

The following day, the injured party and Tynan Kelleher went to several pharmacies in order for her to get the morning-after pill. The girl had to lie about her age to get the medication.

The girl reported the incident to the gardaí and also told them about a second incident that had taken place earlier that summer which she was staying the night in another house. She woke during the night and felt the defendant pulling at her pyjama bottoms, and she could feel his erect penis rubbing off her lower back. The girl pretended to be asleep and moved her legs slightly so he could not remove her pyjama bottoms.

The second injured party in the case to which the defendant had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting said she was at a party in a house in Co Louth in August 2017. She went to sleep at 12.30 am. She was sharing a bed with the defendant and his then-girlfriend. The injured party woke at 8 am to find the defendant trying to put his penis between her legs. He then put his hand down her pants and touched her vagina. He then digitally penetrated the girl.

The court heard that the following day the girl confronted Tynan Kelleher, and he dismissed what happened, saying, “Shit happens.”

Reading her victim impact statement, the first injured party said, “The trauma of giving evidence while he sat near me and denied what he had done has greatly affected me.”

She described in the aftermath of the assaults that she felt “alone and fell into depression and had suicidal ideations”.

She said how she had “flashbacks and nightmares and developed anxiety and was afraid to leave her house”.

“I am no longer afraid, and I can finally move on from this dark chapter in my life,” she said.

“I would like to thank all the gardaí who have shown me compassion and support throughout this process.”

A victim impact statement for the second injured party was read to the court by prosecuting counsel in which it said, “I have spent the last six years thinking that the panic attacks would go away when I heard the words ‘guilty’ read out loud in court, but they haven’t and I don’t know if they ever will.”

She said, “I have not slept properly since this happened,” and described “not feeling safe enough to sleep on my own”.

“I will never walk home alone, I will never walk down an empty street, and I will lock my car doors the minute I get in.”

“I don’t want to keep questioning myself and look over my shoulder forever.”

Det Gda Linnane agreed with Giollaíosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, that his client has no previous convictions, and no other allegations are pending against him.

Mr Ó Lideadha handed letters into the court, which included a letter of apology from the accused to the second victim in the case in which he said, “I am genuinely sorry for what I did. I was selfish and arrogant on the night in question,” and “I will live with this regret for the rest of life.”

The court also received letters from the accused man’s brother, who described him as a “kind and caring uncle”, a letter from his mother, who described him as having a “soft and gentle manner” and said, “When he returns home, we will try to support him,” was also handed to the court.

Counsel said that his client comes from a very positive family background and no longer has friends in the community since these allegations came to light.

He said that the probation report shows that his client is very willing to engage in education, training and counselling specifically relating to sexual offending and consent.

Mr Ó Lideadha said, “We recognise the significant effects on the injured parties.”

He said, “he hopes that both injured parties will find happiness in the fullness of time”.

He asked the court to take into account that his client pleaded guilty to one of the sexual assault charges, which was beneficial, and the positive governor’s report that he is an enhanced prisoner.