A 39-year-old Cork man who is already a convicted killer received a 12-year sentence today for the attempted rape and indecent assault of a young woman over 15 years ago.
In 1988 Conor Downey broke into the Cork woman's home and attacked her as she lay sleeping. He beat her so savagely that gardaí thought she was wearing a horror mask. He also attempted to rape and sexually assault her.
A few months earlier in London he strangled Suzanne Reddan from near Letterkenny in Co Donegal. Ms Reddan was reported missing around March 1988 and she was not found until 1992 when Downey confessed to police in Surrey that he had strangled her. He had shared a house with her.
His information led to some of her limbs being discovered but her torso was never found. He served a three-year sentence for his crime and then in the 1990s he returned to Cork.
In 2000, 11 years after the sexual assault on the Cork woman, he was linked to the crime using fingerprint and DNA samples.Superintendent Brian Calnan told the Central Criminal Court today that Downey was also convicted last February of assaulting a doctor who had collected blood samples from him.
Today Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins jailed Downey for 12 years. He suspended the final year of the sentence.
