Violent Cavan attacker had it 'in his mind' to rape 85-year-old woman after pinning her to bed during break-in

A violent attacker admitted to gardai “it was in his mind” to rape an 85-year-old woman after breaking into her home at 4.30am and pinning to her bed, a court was told today (Tuesday, November 16). 

Shane Smith (32), of Assan, New Inn, Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at her home on April 6, 2018. 

At Cavan Circuit Criminal Court last November, he also admitted the false imprisonment of the same woman and was sentenced to four years and six months, with nine months suspended, for the sexual assault and one year and 10 months for the second offence. 

At the same hearing before Judge John Aylmer, Smith was sentenced to a further three years after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Daniel Miller with a shovel and the knife on November 23, 2018.  

All sentences were to run concurrently. 

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed the sentences on the grounds they were unduly lenient. 

In documents submitted to the Court of Appeal, the DPP stated the trial judge should have imposed consecutives sentences for the assaults because they were committed against different individuals on two separate occasions and had been “premeditated and planned”. 

The headline sentences for the sex assault and false imprisonment, the DPP argued, had been too low and should have been set at six years and 2.5 years respectively.   

It was further submitted that the judge failed to give sufficient weight to aggravating factors, such as the age of his elderly victim, the hospital treatment she required for injuries to her foot and back that she sustained during the 20-minute ordeal, and the fact Smith had breached her constitutional right to the inviolability of the dwelling home to carry out the attack.  

Monica Lawlor BL, for the DPP, told the Court of Appeal that Smith was arrested after DNA taken from the scene of the assault on Mr Miller matched genetic material recovered from the scene of another break-in. 

With regards to the attack against Mr Miller, counsel said the victim had been in a relationship with Smith’s sister.  

Smith attacked him from behind by striking him with a shovel before slashing him across the face and arms with a knife in an “entirely unprovoked attack”. 

He had also disguised himself by wearing a balaclava when he committed the “vicious and violent” assault against Mr Miller, Ms Lawlor added.  

Mr Miller had left with scars on his arms face and back as a result of the attack and “was constantly looking over his shoulder in fear”, counsel told the court.  

After his arrest, Smith told gardai that it was “in his mind” to rape the elderly victim after he had pinned her to her bed and had tried to remove her underwear. 

Background reports indicated that Smith was assessed as being at “high risk of sexual re-conviction”, Ms Lawlor added. 

“Mr Smith is an intelligent man but does not grasp the gravity of his offences and the long-term impact they have on his victims,” she continued.  

She said the attacks were not “spur of the moment” crimes and had involved a degree of planning. 

Counsel said that because the trial judge had not imposed consecutive sentences however, the punishment in the mind of Mr Miller had been “zero”.  

Ken Fogarty SC, for Smith, told the court that the sentencing in this case had been in line with the guidelines.  

His client’s guilty plea, Mr Fogarty said, had been significant, and had spared the victims a court appearance and the “rigours of cross-examination”. 

Smith, Mr Fogarty continued, has also been treated for schizophrenia and “the logic of what he cited to the guards after he was arrested” had “clearly indicated he was not mentally correct”. 

Ms Lawlor, however, told the court that there was “no evidence to suggest” that Smith “was harbouring under a mental illness at the time when these offences occurred”. 

Judgment has been reserved.  

Man who was caught with a loaded semi-automatic pistol in midlands is jailed

Gardai appeal for witnesses to midlands armed robbery

Daily number of Covid-19 cases confirmed

APPEAL: Gardaí seeking witnesses after traffic collision leaves man in serious condition