A rapist has been jailed for 15 years by a judge who said he needs to be removed from society until it’s safe for him to return.
Richard O’Brien (57) lured a grandmother to a caravan in Dublin before raping her, assaulting her and biting her during a sustained and vicious attack on March 19th, 2011.
He then fled to the UK before being extradited in 2013. Last July he was found guilty by a jury of rape, attempted rape, false imprisonment and assault causing harm earlier that year.
O’Brien, with a former address in Arlington Lodge, Church Street, Tralee, was sentenced in early 2015 after being convicted of separate offences of rape and false imprisonment carried out two months earlier. He received a six-year sentence for that, backdated to the date of his extradition from the UK.
At his sentencing hearing last month Mr Justice Tony Hunt had him removed from court after O'Brien repeatedly interrupted proceedings, calling his victim a "filthy prostitute".
Great harm
Mr Justice Hunt said on Monday that the harm done by O’Brien to the victim was “very, very great indeed” with “long-term if not permanent damage”.
He said O’Brien had identified her on the night as someone who was vulnerable. He had used deception by telling her there was a party while in reality he was bringing her to an isolated caravan.
The judge said he was tempted to impose a life sentence so that O’Brien would be kept away from the public until the executive determined it would be safe for him to be released.
The judge said O’Brien was “a very serious threat indeed” but that his case fell just short of one where a life sentence should be imposed.
Imposing a 15-year prison term, Mr Justice Hunt said O’Brien will be in jail for a large part of his remaining life.
“That’s his fault. He needs to be removed from society until it’s safe for him to return,” he said. He said he was giving some allowance in his sentencing to O’Brien’s age and his medical issues.
He backdated the sentence to last August, when his previous sentence expired. He ordered that O’Brien be subject to post release supervision for three years and that he must notify authorities of his address, as per the Sex Offenders Act 2001.
Nightmares
In a victim impact statement read out in court, the woman said she has had nightmares every night for the last five years. She said the attack led to the breakdown of her 23-year relationship and she had suicidal thoughts. She said her relationship with her children and grandchildren has suffered.
“For the last five years of my life I have been existing, not living,” she said.
O’Brien left school at 15 and worked in the UK as a labourer and truck driver. Defence barrister Damien Colgan SC said he suffers from arthritis and sciatica and has recently been diagnosed with testicular cancer. He has been married twice and has seven children, but is estranged from his family.
Last month O’Brien repeatedly interrupted the proceedings, ordering prosecution barrister Anne Rowland SC to “get her facts straight” before turning on his barrister, Mr Colgan, and telling him: “On your bike”.
After giving O’Brien several warnings, Mr Justice Hunt ordered that he be removed from court. As he was led away, O’Brien turned towards his victim and verbally abused her.
The sentence hearing continued after the judge asked Mr Colgan to continue to represent O’Brien. He has already sacked at least one legal team and is “the client from hell”, Mr Justice Hunt said.
At the hearing on Monday, Mr Colgan said he had been instructed by his client to offer an unreserved apology to the court and to the victim for the outbursts in November.