Three men jailed for rape of vulnerable woman in 2016

Three Dublin men have been sentenced for the rape of a "vulnerable" 18-year-old woman on Dollymount Strand on 5 January 2016.

Dion Genockey, 24, of Clarion Quay apartments was jailed for nine years. Troy Ryan, 24, of Lower Gardiner Street was jailed for nine years and six months. Daryl Rooney, 25, of Railway Street was jailed for ten years.

All had denied the charges, maintained their innocence and had shown little remorse. All three were identified by DNA evidence found at the scene.

They were convicted of raping the woman at Bull Island, Dollymount Strand in Dublin on 5 January 2016 after luring her to the remote location from an internet cafe in Dublin city centre.

She said she was then raped again when she was offered a lift home by two further men who were not before the court.

The three were convicted at the Central Criminal Court in March by a jury.

In addition to the custodial sentence, Mr Justice David Keane said each man should undergo two years of post-release supervision.

He noted that Rooney had 225 previous convictions, including for public order, violent disorder and criminal damage.

The judge noted from the woman's victim impact statement given to the court last month, that her life had been put on hold for six years and that she had been fearful the men would get away with the pain and trauma they had caused her.

She said at times she did not feel like the victim and felt she had been cruelly questioned by the justice system.

The woman said she felt she had been repeatedly violated with all of her childhood information shared.

She listened to proceedings via video link.

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The judge noted an appeal by Conor Devallly SC, representing Genockey and Mark Nicholas SC, representing Ryan, that they were both 17 years old and minors at the time of the offence.

Mr Justice Keane said that whilst Rooney was 18, he had been diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability and he said he could treat them all as equally immature for the purposes of sentencing.

He said no credit was available to any of them for pleading guilty and whilst each offender continued to deny the charges, there could be little prospect of rehabilitation.

The judge said it was an aggravating factor that each rape had formed part of a concerted action by the accused and the fact that the woman had been driven from the internet cafe, showed a degree of planning and premeditation.

The jury had rejected a conflicting narrative given by the men, he added.

Some of the relatives of the men were in court and became upset and angry as the sentence was handed down.

The judge said evidence of the woman's further rape ordeal at the hands of the occupants of the second car should be put to one side in this case, but he said it had had a profound impact on her.

He noted the woman had been left alone, crying and confused at the side of the road, before ringing 999 on the Clontarf Road to call for help.