A woman who was raped at a house party has said that she has been made “feel like a prisoner in my own life” since the attack.
The woman delivered her victim impact statement in the sentence hearing of Tadgh Lonergan (28), of Kilsheelan, Clonmel, Tipperary.
Lonergan was convicted following a Central Criminal Court jury last month. He had pleaded not guilty to rape at a house in Tipperary on June 6th, 2021.
His victim wishes to retain her anonymity but indicated she has no objection to Lonergan being named in reporting the case.
The woman took the stand to read her victim impact statement into the record.
“He has made me feel like a prisoner in my own life,” the woman said before she added that she hoped maybe Lonergan would now use his time in custody to reflect on “how selfish he was – how his behaviour was completely unacceptable and how he has destroyed my life”.
“I am determined, that with continued support I will find the old me again,” the woman concluded before she asked Justice Tony Hunt to “consider the profound and lasting effect this crime has had on my life”.
Mr Justice Hunt told the woman that he often notes that other people in her position, when they deliver a victim impact statement, speak of a determination to get on with their lives because “otherwise that gives the person who did the wrong to them the win”.
“It is not going to be easy,” Mr Justice Hunt acknowledged, before he said he hoped the woman could adopt this approach.
He added that he hoped the fact that she had used her own voice in delivering her victim impact statement will help her in some way.
Bail revoked
Mr Justice Hunt remanded Lonergan in continuing custody until July 29th for sentence. Lonergan had his bail revoked and was remanded in custody following his conviction last month.
Mr Justice Hunt acknowledged evidence that Lonergan previously worked in stud farms, including Coolmore Stud in Tipperary.
The judge referred to a sentence hearing that he dealt with last week and how in news reports of that case, reference was made to testimonials from employers and potential employment for convicted persons in the future.
“In cases such as this (Lonergan’s case) – I don’t have any option nor do I want any option but to impose an immediate custodial sentence."
He said it is quite simple in that the person before him is going to prison - “so the immediate prospect of employment does not arise. The future employment is a matter for a potential employer and potential employee,” Mr Justice Hunt said.
He accepted a letter from Lonergan’s partner and acknowledged that he had no previous convictions.
“But previous good character goes up in smoke in the context of such an offence,” Mr Justice Hunt said.
Coleman Cody SC, defending, said his client was the youngest of three children and his siblings were in court to support him.
He said there were many “positive aspects” to his client’s character, and he handed in a letter from his partner which outlined that Lonergan is in a committed and stable relationship.
“He will still be a young man when he re-enters society,” Mr Cody said before he asked Mr Justice Hunt to acknowledge that a prison sentence would be more difficult for a person like Lonergan than it would be for others who may be more familiar with the criminal justice system.
Mr Cody asked the court to accept that Lonergan would be “publicly known as a person who has been convicted of such an offence”.
Justice Hunt said the evidence in the case was that it had been a “perfectly normal night out” and now there are two young people before the court “whose lives have been totally turned upside down”.
Two trials
A local sergeant told Eoghan Cole SC, prosecuting, that there were two trials in the case after a jury failed to agree on a verdict in an earlier trial this year.
She said that the woman was 26 years old when she attended the party of a friend in Tipperary. Lonergan arrived later at the house and the woman said there was some “unremarkable” conversation between them.
She later went to bed. She had been in an en-suite brushing her teeth and when she came back into the room Lonergan was there. He tried to kiss her, but she told him: “No, this is not happening.”
The sergeant agreed with Mr Cole that Lonergan forcibly kissed the woman and bit her neck before he forced her onto the bed and raped her.
The woman later said it, “was the worst I ever felt”. She tried to push the man off during the rape. She eventually managed to get to the bedroom door and found it was locked. She managed to get out of the room and went to the bathroom.
The woman said she heard other people asking Lonergan: “What the f**k did you do to her?”
Mr Cole said that the trial heard that people could hear screaming from the room and the woman shouting, “Help….get off me”.
The woman reported the rape to the gardaí and was later treated in the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit. She was found to have bruising on her neck, thigh and ankle.
Lonergan was arrested on June 29th, 2021, and interviewed six times. He denied any wrongdoing.
He claimed that the woman had touched him on the leg affectionately earlier in the night.
He said he had been upstairs and he saw the woman in one of the bedrooms. He went in to talk to her. He claimed she asked him if he was involved with someone else before there was consensual kissing and consensual sex.
Lonergan said someone knocked on the door and the woman told him to stop so he stopped.
He claimed that the reason she made up the allegation was because she was simply embarrassed by the fact that they had sex.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
By Sonya McLean
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