A Letterkenny man who preyed on a 16-year-old girl and plied her with drugs has been jailed for four years after pleading guilty to sexual assault.
Patrick Marley (35) was before this week’s sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court.
He lured his young victim into his apartment with the offer of cannabis after preying on her for several hours.
In sentencing, Judge John Aylmer said Marley – who fled to the UK for a period after the incident – was perusing his victim ‘amorously’ on the night in question. Marley, with an address at Crerand House, Larkins Lane, initially pleaded not guilty in June and a jury was empanelled before he changed his plea to one of guilty.
Ms Fiona Crawford BL, prosecutor for the State, said the victim in the case was entitled to anonymity but as there was no link between her and Marley, the accused man could be named.
The incident occurred at an apartment in Letterkenny on July 16, 2017, when the victim was 16 years old.
Detective Garda Watters said the woman was out with friends and was drinking and took an ecstasy tablet earlier in the night. As she was wearing a tracksuit, she did not want to go to a nightclub in the town.
The court heard evidence that the girl confided in a teacher that a boy was ‘creeping her out’.
When she encountered Marley, he asked her if she took cocaine and she replied: “No, but if you’re offering it, I may as well.”
This was around 3am and the pair took a line of cocaine. Marley tried to kiss her and she said she became ‘kind of scared’. He grabbed her hand and as she let go he attempted to kiss her again. She told him that she was much younger, the court heard.
Later, at a property in Letterkenny, Marley, who lured the teenager back on the promise of cannabis, was ‘passed out sleeping’ and the woman could hear music from another room. The handle of the front door was broken off and was sitting on a table beside the door. She was unable to get the handle affixed to the door, which was locked.
When she went to wake Marley, he tried to kiss her again and she told him she didn’t want that to happen. The court heard that Marley attempted to get on top of the victim, who pushed him off and said ‘I need to get home, let me out’.
Outside the door, Marley again grabbed the girl and leaned in to kiss her. As she pushed him away, Marley was holding her by the back and side.
While the girl continued to struggle, Marley put his hand inside her underwear and assaulted her, the court heard. The girl told him ‘please don’t do this’ and punched him on the head. She attempted to get Marley in a headlock and told him: ‘I can’t believe you’ve done that, that was just sick’.
Having subsequently told her mother what had happened, she was taken to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) in Letterkenny.
Marley, who has 24 previous convictions, was unemployed and homeless at the time and was sleeping on a relative’s sofa, his barrister, Mr Colm Smyth SC, said.
Detective Garda Watters said that Marley failed to appear for a court hearing in 2018 and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Gardai made subsequent enquiries when they could not locate Marley. In January 2019, they applied for a European Arrest Warrant, which was executed in June 2020.
The woman bravely took to the stand to face Marley and told how she is ‘absolutely terrified’ to walk alone. Even when she goes to a nearby shop, she calls a family member. The victim said she ‘struggles terribly with anxiety every single day’ and has had to be medicated to deal with suicidal thoughts.
She said she had attempted to take her own life ‘many times’ and has received extensive counselling.
“I suffer from panic attacks and nightmares,” she said. “I struggle to make friends with boys and men; I can’t let that happen to me again. This has been the most terrifying six years of my life. I have been so traumatised and devastated that he took six years of my life. I constantly live in fear of men.”
The woman said she has ‘suffered every minute for the last six years’ and said her assailant ‘held on to admit guilt until the very last moment’.
“I am haunted that he is still walking the street,” she said, adding that she repeatedly asks herself: ‘What do I do? Where do I go? Will it ever change?’
Mr Smyth read a letter of apology written by Marley, who said he wished to apologise for his actions.
“I can’t begin to understand how you must feel,” Marley wrote. “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry.”
A letter of reference from his employer was handed in to the court.
Mr Smyth said this was an offence committed while his client was under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
He said Marley was going to offer the victim €10,000, but did not ‘as he didn’t want to offend the victim’ or ‘be seen to buy a way out of prison’. He said his client is ‘truly and deeply sorry’ and that his employers were ‘greatly shocked’ by the case.
Judge Aylmer said that Marley administering cocaine to the girl some hours in advance of the commission of the offence was an aggravating feature.
He said Marley was a ‘mature adult in comparison’ and ‘had been preying on her for an extended number of hours’.
“She was already intoxicated and it appears as if he was taking advantage of her already intoxicated state,” Judge Aylmer said. “He lured her into the privacy of his dwelling with the offer of cannabis and when it came to the commission of the offence, significant physical force was used.”
Judge Aylmer said it was clear from the woman’s victim impact statement that the incident has had a ‘very negative psychological impact’ on her.
Judge Aylmer said the offence merited a sentence of six years in prison before considering mitigation.
He noted that Marley has become involved with another woman. Judge Aylmer said Marley’s guilty plea was late, but was considered valuable as it spared the victim the additional trauma of having to give evidence.
Judge Aylmer reduced the sentence to one of four years in prison.
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