A Mayo man has been jailed for four years for the rape of his nine-year-old cousin in a shed on his family farm 18 years ago.
33 year old Noel Gallagher of Dadreen, Louisburgh had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to anal rape of 27 year old Dylan Gallagher in Louisburgh on a date between October 1, 2006 and March 2007. Mr Gallagher waived his anonymity allowing his cousin to be named.
Noel Gallagher was 15 years old at that time. He was convicted by a jury following trial last April.
Maurice Coffey SC, defending told Mr Justice David Keane that his client does not accept the jury’s verdict and maintains his innocence.
The court heard that Dylan Gallagher eventually told his parents about the incident in December 2019.
As a child he would visit his grandparents regularly and then go on to visit his uncle’s farm. The rape occurred in a shed during one of these visits.
Reading his victim impact statement into the record, Mr Gallagher said “It was never going to be easy for a male victim to come forward, especially when there is family involved.”
He said the rape was a “horrific incident” that had a major impact on his life.
Yesterday, he jailed Noel Gallagher for four years and imposed a two year post release supervision order.
He set a headline sentence of eight years which was reduced to five years having taken into account Noel Gallagher’s age at the time of the rape.
Mr Justice Keane took into account that Noel Gallagher has no other convictions. He said he could not give him any credit for a guilty plea as he continues to deny the offence and doesn’t accept the jury’s verdict.
