‘It should be the victim’s right to be named if they want to’
DESPAIR FOR COUNTY WEXFORD RAPE VICTIM WHO IS PREVENTED BY LAW FROM REVEALING HER IDENTITY AFTER COURT CASE CONCLUDES
I HAD TO EXPLAIN THAT IT WASN’T MY CHOICE, THAT I DIDN’T MIND BEING NAMED AND THAT IT WAS THE LAW THAT PREVENTED ME FROM LETTING MY NAME BE KNOWN, EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE VICTIM – SHARON (NOT HER REAL NAME)
A WOMAN who was repeatedly raped as a child has told this newspaper she feels like she was a victim ‘twice-over’ because she cannot reveal her identity as the law currently stands.
In the run up to Christmas, the woman’s attacker, John Giltrap (60), from Termonbarry, Hospital Hill, Bunclody, was jailed for eleven years when he appeared before the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Kilkenny.
He has since lodged an appeal against conviction and sentence.
Sharon [not her real name] wanted Giltrap’s identity to be revealed and waived her right to anonymity, however, while the presiding judge said her attacker’s identity could be disclosed, Sharon could not have her identity revealed due to the way the law currently stands.
Speaking to this newspaper, Sharon said that while she was relieved to see her attacker jailed she was shocked at the fact the choice about her identity was taken from her.
‘I don’t think there should be an issue with having your name revealed if you are of age and you don’t mind being identified,’ said Sharon, who was subjected to horrific attacks between the ages of ten and 15.
Now an adult, she said the decision to have her identity known should have been hers to make.
‘It shocked me that I couldn’t make that decision and I think the system let me down because it made me feel like a victim again,’ she said.
Having her attacker named was very important to her in terms of her coping with what happened.
Since the court case, and its coverage in a subsequent newspaper report in which she was referred to by the name ‘Sharon’, she said friends of hers who knew what happened had asked her why she used a made-up name.
‘I told them I didn’t make up any name and I had to tell them
I wasn’t hiding my identity,’ she said.
When asked how she felt, as a victim, to have that decision taken out of her hands, Sharon said: ‘I was very annoyed at the time because I didn’t see that coming at all. I was half afraid that I wouldn’t be able to name him but I never thought I wouldn’t be able to name myself.’
‘Now people think I kept my name out of it to hide my own identity and I didn’t,’ she said.
Sharon is conscious that there are likely other people in the same position she finds herself in and she is anxious that no one else is made feel the way she does by a law that is meant to be there to protect victims.
‘People asked me why did I change my name and I had to tell them I didn’t and it made me feel like I’m being questioned or that people doubted you, but you are the victim,’ she said.
‘Even people shared it online and a friend of mine in the UK tagged me and I had to tell her “you may take the tag off that” because I can’t have my identity revealed,’ she added.
When asked how that aspect of the law makes her feel, Sharon said it’s something that has to be changed because a victim of such horrific crimes should not be made feel like a victim of the law as well.
‘It should be the victim’s right to be named if they want to be named, especially if they are adults,’ she said.
Sharon only found out about the restrictions on her own identity on the day of the sentencing hearing when she asked if she could name her attacker.
‘I asked if I could name him or not and I was glad that he would be named but it was very last minute that we realised that I couldn’t be named,’ she said.
Sharon said her barrister had informed the presiding judge that she had waived her right to anonymity and the judge directed her barrister to consult with the DPP about it and when she returned she came back and informed Sharon that she couldn’t reveal her name.
‘It would have been worse if he couldn’t have been named but I was still shocked that I couldn’t make the decision about my own name,’ she said.
‘I was shocked to learn I couldn’t be named myself,’ she added.
Sharon feels like she was made a victim twice because in the first instance she was a victim of her attacker and suffered horrendous abuse but then, because of the law, she says she felt like a victim all over again following the court case.
‘It should be a victim’s choice and right to have the power as to whether or not they can be named,’ she said.
She said that the legislation at the moment makes the person a victim twice.
She feels that once a person reaches the age of 18 and is mentally capable, the choice as to whether or not they can be named, when they are the victim of rape or sexual offences, should ‘absolutely be their choice only’.
‘I never thought for two seconds that I couldn’t be named,’ she said.
‘I had no idea,’ she added. ‘I got phone calls to ask me why did I changed my name and obviously that was only from people who knew it was me.’
Away from the court setting, Sharon said people knew about what happened and that it was friends who knew what had occurred who asked her why she changed her name.
‘I had to explain that it wasn’t my choice, that I didn’t mind being named and that it was the law that prevented me from letting my name be known,’ she said.
‘It’s really crazy that’s the case and it’s very unfair on victims,’ she added.
‘I thought they were accusing me of hiding my own identity even though I wasn’t.’
Sharon feels strongly that the law needs to be changed to give the power of identity back to the victim.
‘It should be the case that the victim can be named if they wish to be named,’ she said.
‘That should be the victim’s right to choose and decide, and no one else’s,’ she added.
‘Obviously, some victims don’t want to be named but the choice shouldn’t be taken from them.’
Sharon then commented: ‘It was the very last thing I expected because I thought all I had to do was fight to get him named it never crossed my mind about my own name because I didn’t think it would be an issue. I didn’t mind my identity being revealed.’
With the trial over, Sharon is focussing on getting on with her life but she feels that process wasn’t helped by how the law made her feel in the wake of the court case.
Giltrap was found guilty on 20 counts of rape and it was the third time the matter had been before the courts after one trial ended with a hung jury and the second was deemed a mistrial.
The abuse started from when she was 10 years old and Sharon said the first memory she has is of being raped on the side of a bed.
‘I just remember being pinned down and him raping me,’ she said.
‘After that, it was just constant,’ she added.
She said it affected her childhood.
‘I just went into myself and became very quiet,’ she said.
Sharon was 15 when her ordeal finally ended but by that stage she thought it was normal.
‘I had nearly stopped fighting him off at that stage because I almost thought “there’s no point”, it would be quicker getting it over and done with,’ she said.
‘I think I began to think it was just the norm,’ she added.
When Sharon was 15 she noticed her friends were getting boyfriends and she began to realise that they weren’t going through the same thing she was.
‘I began to think this can’t be going on with them, they’re getting boyfriends and I wasn’t even interested and then that May, at the start of the summer holidays I told him to f **k off or I was going to the gardai,’ she said.
‘I never went near him again after that because I never allowed myself to be on my own with him,’ she added.
‘I think he got the shock of his life when I stood up to him like that.’
Sharon said she was very naive but agreed that naivety is not something that a person should be punished or victimised for, let alone be attacked for
I WOULD TELL ANYONE TO REPORT IT BECAUSE IT WILL BE WORTH IT IN THE END... THE JUDGE THREW THE BOOK AT HIM BECAUSE HE SHOWED NO REMORSE AT ALL
in the manner she was.
Sharon said she eventually confided in a relative about what happened to her and when confronted about it by that relative, Giltrap said ‘sure she wanted it’.
‘I thought he would deny it but he didn’t, he just said I wanted it,’ said Sharon.
However, it wasn’t until 2017, that she decided to inform the gardai about what happened.
‘I said it to no one after [telling her relative] and I put it behind me again and focussed on rearing my own children and then when they were reared I thought it’s probably time now to do something about it,’ she said.
‘I suppose it was in my head for a good few years before I went to the gardai to do it,’ she added.
‘I suppose it was eating away at me but I think the trigger was when I found out he had moved to a new housing estate and I thought well these people mightn’t have known about what he had done.’
She said none of her own family knew she was going to the gardai.
‘I didn’t even tell my own husband the night I went to the gardai,’ she said.
Sharon was full of praise for Garda Olive McNamara and Garda Sharon Hannon, who she said provided great support to her.
‘They were absolutely fantastic and I will forever be grateful to them,’ she said.
She said it was a weight off her shoulders to have people believe her and offer assistance.
‘It was an absolute weight off my shoulders,’ she said.
‘I suppose I didn’t realise just what it was I was holding inside me for so long,’ she added.
‘The gardai were very good, they were brilliant from start to finish,’ she said.
She also praised the support she received from the Victims Support at Court group.
Sharon said it was overwhelming when she found out that charges were going to be brought against Giltrap: ‘I thought there wouldn’t be enough evidence because I didn’t have any witnesses, however, it goes to show you, you don’t always need witnesses because all you need is the truth.’
‘The truth will outweigh lies no matter what,’ she added.
Sharon said she was overwhelmed when she found out the case was going to trial and burst out crying when the gardai informed her, but as the trial approached she was ‘sick to the stomach’.
‘That ended with a hung jury and then, the second time, it was a mistrial,’ she said.
‘It started this time on November 23 [2020] and didn’t finally end until December 21,’ she said. The sentencing took place the following Wednesday.
Giltrap has never expressed remorse for what he did and when he was found guilty, Sharon said she didn’t realise what was happening at first.
‘I didn’t really realise what was being said until the third count, because there were 20 counts, and it was on the third one that my husband nudged me and said “they’re saying he’s guilty” and then I took to roaring crying,’ she said.
At this point, Sharon became emotional again during our interview, highlighting the enormous impact the entire ordeal has had on her.
‘I didn’t realise because I expected the head of the jury to say “guilty” but he didn’t, it was the clerk was putting it to him and he was just saying “yes” so I didn’t realise at first what was happening,’ she said.
‘I was just overwhelmed, I couldn’t believe it and the fact it was unanimous made it even better because they all believed me,’ she added.
Sharon praised the presiding judge who she said was very thorough throughout.
She said she was very apprehensive in the run-up to the sentencing hearing and even asked her barrister if she had to attend.
‘I was just so nervous about it but it worked out OK in the end,’ she said.
Sharon would advise anyone who is going through the same or similar ordeal to what she endured to have courage and report what is happening to the gardai.
‘I would tell anyone to report it because it will be worth it in the end,’ she said.
‘It will be tough and there were times when I thought of nearly pulling out of it myself but it is worth it to get the truth out,’ she added.
‘The judge threw the book at him because he showed no remorse at all.
‘At the start, if he had said “OK, I’ll plead guilty” I wouldn’t have cared if he went to jail or not at all so long as he wasn’t going around saying I was telling lies but he didn’t,’ she said.
‘He dragged us through three trials so I said to hell with you,’ she added.
With regard to how the entire ordeal made her feel and the affect of what Giltrap did to her, Sharon said it took away her childhood and her teenage life.
It was something she also outlined in her victim impact statement: ‘You made me feel like this was a normal thing that happened to every little girl. You never expressed any remorse or guilt. I couldn’t even bond with my first daughter when she was born as I thought I wouldn’t be able to protect her.’
The final line of her impact statement summed up how she feels now: ‘I’m no longer that scared little girl and today I get the justice I deserve.’