Midlands sex assault victim considered suicide after attack

THE victim of a sexual assault in Tullamore four years ago said he had to leave the town as a result of the attack and has considered taking his own life.

Tullamore Circuit Court heard that a 22-year-old man, whose identity is protected by order of the court, was sexually assaulted in the town centre while on his way home after being out for drinks after work.

A 60-year-old intellectually disabled man, Patrick Graham, 60, Cappincur, Tullamore, pleaded guilty in June to sexually assaulting the young man at Texas car park in the town on December 11, 2017 and he received a 20-month suspended sentence from Judge Francis Comerford last week.

In a victim impact report read into the court record by prosecution counsel Will Fennelly, BL, the victim said “two letters” and “a word” - the word “if” - will torment his life forever.

He wrote: “If my work night was the date before or after, if I had left earlier or later, if I had rang for a lift like I said I would... If he just hadn't seen me leaving then my life wouldn't be the one I'm living now.”

He said December 2017 ended the person he was previously known as, both to himself and his family.

“That night turned me into a person I don't like and a person I don't want to be. I've taken a road that seems never ending, and I'm tired,” his report said.

“I considered taking my life and I'm scared but I'm also scared that one day I won't be.”

He said he had left Tullamore and his family behind because the man who committed the assault was a person he did not want to see and he could not work or shop in Tullamore in case he saw him.

He said he hopes he will get to a stage where he's not ashamed or embarrassed and takes the support his family want to give because their lives have changed too “and I want to be the old me for them and my children”.

Mr Fennelly said the victim added a postscript at the end of his report, indicating that he had initially ignored pleas from his family to write it because it meant he was reliving what he had been trying to bury and what he had left his town for.

“I finally knew I had to [write it] because I should be heard and maybe it will help,” he said.

He thanked the gardai for their support, especially Garda Elaine Conlon, for being on the phone and helping with any questions he or his parents had.

The circumstances of the assault were outlined to the court by Garda Conlon who said the victim told gardai on December 11, 2017 that a man, who he named, had sexually assaulted him.

He was very distressed and intoxicated when he arrived at the station and asked that his father be contacted.

He said he had gone for drinks after work with friends and met the accused, who he knew but was not really acquainted with, and the assault then took place.

Later the same day Mr Graham attended voluntarily at the garda station and when Garda Conlon informed him he was going to be arrested for the sexual assault he replied that “It was a stupid mistake”. In later interviews he confirmed the account given by the victim.

The garda said the accused was a native of Tullamore and a single man with no children who is on disability.

He was remorseful and co-operated with the gardai and in the interviews with them he understood the questions and intellectually was capable of engaging but was perhaps not capable of “functioning at a high level”. He had no previous convictions.

Cross-examined by John Peart, SC, defending, Garda Conlon said the case was delayed to some degree while medical reports were prepared and those reports indicated he was fit to stand trial and he then pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

The court heard he was one of nine children who attended a boarding school in Dublin for the intellectually disabled between the age of 11 and 18 and then worked at a local workshop.

When he was 44 he had an epileptic incident which led to his hospital and that had affected his ability to deal with the world.

Garda Conlon said he had not come to garda notice for the last four years.

Mr Peart told the court Mr Graham's intellectual disability worsened after an epileptic seizure when he was 44. He described his intellectual disability as moderate and said his understanding of his position is somewhat rudimentary.

A member of the accused's family told the court that two other family members who lived nearby would supervise him in the event that he did not receive a custodial sentence.

She concurred with the medical reports, saying his disability disimproved greatly after what she described as a “very serious epileptic seizure”.

She said his mental age would be under 10 and he is a person who would not be able to make serious decisions.

His family had spoken to him about the incident and he felt remorse, was sorry and understood what was happening in court.

The witness added that earlier this year he collapsed and was hospitalised with deep thrombosis in a leg and is on a lot of medication.

Asking that he not be sentenced to prison, the woman said the defendant no longer socialised and now only left his house to go grocery shopping once a week.

She said the incident had totally destroyed his life and he now lived in fear.

Mr Peart also asked that a custodial sentence not be imposed and said Mr Graham is an impaired person whose condition is deteriorating and would be extremely vulnerable if placed in custody.

He said the accused had not come to garda notice since the offence and suggested that a suspended sentence with significant conditions could be imposed.

Announcing his sentence, Judge Comerford said Mr Graham had committed a “grave assault” on someone who was very vulnerable and who was entitled to be out for drinks after work and to walk home afterward.

The judge said there is no need for the victim to feel embarrassed or ashamed, no more than any other assault victim and he hoped the victim will be able to find his way back to his old self.

Judge Comerford said the attack was opportunistic rather than calculated or preplanned and the defendant did not have much insight into what he did because of his intellectual disability.

He described him as a man who would be extremely unfit for prison and neither would he be suitable for community service.

The maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years and taking mitigating factors into account, the indicative sentence would be four years, which he further reduced to 20 months because of the other relevant circumstances and evidence, including a probation report.

Judge Comerford suspended the 20-month sentence for 30 months on condition the man enter a 100 peace bond and remain under the supervision of the probation service for a year.

He also imposed a partial curfew on the man, ordering that he not be away from his home on his own between 9pm and 8am every day unless accompanied by an adult every day.

Judge Comerford said the accused was not to be on the streets at night as he had been in 2017. He was also placed on the register of sex offenders.