OMEN
02-04-2009, 10:27 AM
Two men who forced their way into a woman's house and raped her while her young child was in the next room have been sentenced to 14 years in jail at the Central Criminal Court.
26-year-old John Connors of The Arches, Esmonde Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford and 22-year-old Patrick Moorehouse, also of Esmonde Road, held a rope around the woman's neck as they raped her.
The court was told that Connors and Moorehouse had called to the young woman's home in Waterford offering to sell camcorders and jewellery.
When she declined the offer they forced their way into her home, hit her in the face and took her to the bedroom where they raped her in turn while holding a rope around her neck.
The woman told the trial in December that her two-year-old daughter was in the next room so she remained quiet throughout the hour long attack.
In a victim impact statement she said she did not know if she would get out of the room alive but she did all in her power to protect her daughter by not putting up a fight.
She said she left her home after the attack and did not return because she was afraid the men would find her, as they had threatened to do so.
Connors and Moorehouse had denied the charges but were convicted by a jury last December.
Mr Justice George Bermingham said the case was really quite shocking and he said the men showed no signs of remorse or contrition.
He said the violent attack was carried out in the victim's home, which was the one place she should have felt safe.
The court heard that both men are married and their families are supporting them.
Mr Justice Bermingham said while all rape was a violent crime this was at the higher end of the scale.
He sentenced them each to 14 years and directed that they be supervised for ten years after their release.
RTE
26-year-old John Connors of The Arches, Esmonde Road, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford and 22-year-old Patrick Moorehouse, also of Esmonde Road, held a rope around the woman's neck as they raped her.
The court was told that Connors and Moorehouse had called to the young woman's home in Waterford offering to sell camcorders and jewellery.
When she declined the offer they forced their way into her home, hit her in the face and took her to the bedroom where they raped her in turn while holding a rope around her neck.
The woman told the trial in December that her two-year-old daughter was in the next room so she remained quiet throughout the hour long attack.
In a victim impact statement she said she did not know if she would get out of the room alive but she did all in her power to protect her daughter by not putting up a fight.
She said she left her home after the attack and did not return because she was afraid the men would find her, as they had threatened to do so.
Connors and Moorehouse had denied the charges but were convicted by a jury last December.
Mr Justice George Bermingham said the case was really quite shocking and he said the men showed no signs of remorse or contrition.
He said the violent attack was carried out in the victim's home, which was the one place she should have felt safe.
The court heard that both men are married and their families are supporting them.
Mr Justice Bermingham said while all rape was a violent crime this was at the higher end of the scale.
He sentenced them each to 14 years and directed that they be supervised for ten years after their release.
RTE