‘An exceptionally squalid crime’

A KERRY man on a “drunken spree” who barged into the home of a vulnerable woman in the early hours of the morning and sexually assaulted her has been jailed for five years.

Shane Fitzgerald (26) of Tullorum, Spa, Killarney, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to burglary and sexual assault at the woman’s home in a Kerry town in September 2015.

He has 56 previous convictions for offences including assault, criminal damage, public order and road traffic offences.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said it was “an exceptionally squalid crime” and that the victim was “a lady of great vulnerability.” He said Fitzgerald appeared to have been on a “drunken spree”.

Mr Justice McCarthy imposed a sentence of five years imprisonment and ordered Fitzgerald undergo three years post release supervision.

A local detective garda told Patrick McGrath SC, prosecuting, that Fitzgerald was socialising in the town that evening and could be traced through various pubs on CCTV. He and two other men ended up at a house that gardaí believe was previously a brothel.

They kicked at the door and threw cans at the windows but failed in their attempts to get in.

He said they moved on and later found an open door at a completely unrelated building containing a number of flats. The victim, described as a vulnerable woman in her fifties, lived in one of the flats and was awoken at 3.30am by two men banging on her door claiming to be gardaí.

The court heard Fitzgerald barged into the flat and the second man, who did not like how things were developing, ran away. No charges have been brought against anyone else in relation to the case.

Fitzgerald pulled down his pants, took out his penis and told the woman to perform an oral sex act which the petrified woman did.

Fitzgerald took a sum of money before fleeing. The woman ran “screaming and roaring” in terror from her flat and was assisted by a neighbour.

Gardai were alerted and a number of days later arrested Fitzgerald. He was described as emotional, aggressive and angry at stages during interviews and made partial admissions.

The court heard the victim suffered psychological effects as a result of the offence and became visibly upset when speaking about it. She is in counselling and did not complete a victim impact statement as it was feared it may set her back. She has never returned to her flat.

The detective garda agreed that Fitzgerald had been pretty intoxicated as a result of a combination of substances on the night. He agreed that Fitzgerald had expressed remorse at the end of the garda interview and a guilty plea had been indicated at an early stage in the case.

He agreed that Fitzgerald and the others had gone to a certain location believing there might be a brothel there but that the victim had no association with that whatsoever.

Brendan Grehan SC, defending said his client accepted responsibility and was deeply ashamed of his actions. He said Fitzgerald had an extraordinarily unhappy, violent childhood.

Counsel said his client was willing to address his issues. Fitzgerald had started an anger management course and had been referred for psychological counselling.

Fitzgerald wrote a letter to the court in which he said he was sorry for what he had done and said he was “not that kind of person”. He said he had struggled all his life with drink and drugs but was ready to change his life and address his issues.