By Declan Brennan & Brion Hoban

A teenage boy who took part in oral sex with a 12 year old girl has been ordered to complete 180 hours of community service.

The boy was 14 when an older teenager told the victim he would distribute pictures of an earlier sexual incident to their peers if she did not “give a blowjob” to the younger boy.

Lawyers for the younger boy told the court that he was in fear of the older boy, while the victim told gardaí she felt she had to do it.

Roisin Lacey SC, defending, said the incident, which lasted for ….read more

A High Court judge has told a teenage boy who admits engaging in a sex act with a 12 year old girl that he is angry and frustrated by the way in which the victim was humiliated.

The 17 year old and a co-accused, now aged 20, both from Dublin, have both pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual act with a child under the age of 15 at a place in the county on August 25, 2015.

The older boy has also pleaded guilty to engaging in a sexual act with the same girl on August 21, 2015 at a different ….read more

Lawyers for a man acquitted of rape last year have told a court that his legal entitlement to anonymity is being breached by Google search results of his name.

Micheal O’Higgins SC told Mr Justice Micheal White that when his client’s name is placed into the Google search engine, the results include links to reports of rape trials.

He said it is really odd that while his client is not named in any of the articles, they appear “juxtaposed” with his name in the search results page. He said the results include links to court reports of the man’s 2018 trial and ….read more

(Pictured: Ms Kelly Smyth, partner of the late Vincent Ryan, speaking outside court today. Credit: Collins)

Two men have been sentenced to a total of 20 years for helping a criminal gang to murder Vinnie Ryan, a brother of slain Real IRA leader Alan Ryan.

Jeffrey Morrow received the longer sentence of eleven years after Mr Justice Michael White detailed his history of crimes, including conspiracy to rob a cash-in-transit van carrying €1million.

Paul O’Beirne was sentenced to nine years, with Mr Justice White saying he finds it difficult to understand why a man with no history of criminal activity got involved ….read more

(Pictured: Inga Ozolina. Credit: Collins)

A woman who killed her violent alcoholic boyfriend, who she said had made her life “a living hell” and whom she had obtained two safety orders against, has been jailed for four years for manslaughter.

At the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said that the mother of two regrets her former partner died but had not accepted responsibility for his death.

“There is no doubt that the activity of the defendant and the fracas was not purely defensive,” noted the judge, adding that she had lost self-control on the night. However, Mr Justice Owens ….read more

A teenager, who attempted to murder a woman he met online, had unsupervised access to extreme pornography from a young age, unknown contact with the dark web, and poses a ‘potentially-fatal’ risk to others, according to a forensic psychiatrist.

The Central Criminal Court also heard that his parents were of the view that the antidepressant the then 15-year-old was taking was relevant to why he committed the offence.

The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, is now 16. He has pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Stephanie Ng on 23rd December 2017 at Sea Front, Queen’s Road, Dun Laoghaire.

He ….read more

The sentencing of a violent serial sex attacker for the attempted rape of a woman as she arrived home after a night out has been adjourned to October next.

Slawomir Gierlowski (34) is already serving a lengthy prison term for random attacks on other women.
He was convicted earlier this year of a separate sex attack on a fourth victim on the night of December 18, 2010.

After hearing evidence at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Micheal White had adjourned the case to Wednesday.

At this hearing yesterday, Ann Rowland SC, prosecuting, told the court that the DPP intends to seek an adjournment ….read more

A father has being jailed for eight years for the rape and repeated sexual assault of his daughter.

The child’s mother told the Central Criminal Court that she will never forgive the 49 year old man.

He pleaded guilty to oral rape of the child and nine counts of sexual assault at her grandmother’s home on dates between September 1, 2014 and March 2, 2015. He also admitted sexual exploitation of a child by showing her pornographic DVDs.

The offending took place in a county in Munster. Mr Justice Micheal White ordered that nothing more specific about the location could be published.

The court ….read more

By Declan Brennan and Sonya McLean

A man who raped two eastern European women who were working as prostitutes in Ireland has been jailed for 20 years after the judge described the crimes as a “vicious and shocking”.

Ms Justice Tara Burns said that Gheorghe Goidan (46), a Romanian national, had preyed upon the vulnerability of the two women and had clearly targeted them because he thought they would not be believed.

“He clearly thought they were mere dirt to rob and steal from. They are not,” the judge said before adding that the women were “extremely impressive” and gave evidence during trial ….read more

A teenager who blackmailed his younger cousin in order to continue his sexual exploitation of her has had his sentencing deferred for one year.

The boy, now aged 17 and who cannot be identified because he is still a minor, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the sexual exploitation of two of his cousins and the anal rape of one of them on dates in 2015 and 2016.

Passing sentence today, Mr Justice Michael White said that this case was particularly difficult and he had some serious difficulty in coming to the decision not to impose an immediate custodial sentence.

“I ….read more