A combined total of 66 years in prison has been handed down to five young men who subjected a teenage girl to a violent sexual attack.
A combined total of 66 years in prison has been handed down to five young men who subjected a teenage girl to a violent and prolonged sexual attack in a car.
It happened in various locations in the midlands in the early hours of December 27th 2016 after she got in, wrongly assuming it was her friends picking her up.
When she heard her name being called, she assumed it was her friends so she got in.
The judge reassured her today that she wasn’t stupid or naïve for doing so.
She said even if she didn’t know them, she should have felt, and been, safe.
She described the depravity of what they did to her as 'absolutely shocking.' 'They behaved like animals,' she said.
The driver, Marcos Vinicius De Silva Umbelino, of Riverview, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath was convicted of sexual assault and rape.
He was jailed today for 14 years.
Eduardo Dias Ferreira Filho, also of Riverview in Kilbeggan, was jailed for 17 years. He was also convicted of sexual assault and rape as well as a false imprisonment.
For the same offences, Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha, of Mount Armstrong, Rahan, Tullamore, Co Offaly, was jailed for 19 years.
Ethan Nikolaou, of Brosna Park, Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, was jailed for 6 years for two sexual assaults on the then 17yo woman.
And Conor Byrne, of Ballybeg, Moate, Co Westmeath, was jailed for ten years for raping her. He was the only one who pleaded guilty.
At their sentencing today, the judge told them they had 'acted like animals.'
Former chairperson of the National Women's Council, Ellen O'Malley Dunlop, says the victim showed tremendous courage in making the complaint but should never have had to wait so long for justice:
If you need support, contact the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on 1800 77 8888
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