The judge in the case of three young men who drove a vulnerable teenager to a beach and gang raped her has been urged to consider their youth at the time of the incident when sentencing them.
Dion Genockey, Troy Ryan and Daryl Rooney, all aged 24, were 17 and 18-years-old when they drove the then 18-year-old teenager to Dollymount Strand six years ago, where they took turns raping her.
The court heard that after she was raped by the three men, the woman was told to get into a second car which had arrived at the scene. Two more men from that car then raped her, before leaving her on the beach. These men are not before the court.
Genockey, of Clarion Quay Apartments, Rooney, of Railway Street, and Ryan, of Lower Gardiner Street, all in Dublin city centre, were convicted of raping the woman at Bull Island, Dollymount, Dublin, on January 5th, 2016, following a second trial at the Central Criminal Court in March.
The jury in the first trial, which was held in 2020, was unable to reach a verdict.
On Friday, Mr Justice David Keane heard pleas of mitigation from defence counsel representing the three men.
The court was initially packed with supporters but prior to the sentence hearing, the court was cleared so that just two family members were present for each defendant. The complainant listened to the proceedings via video-link.
The court heard none of the men accept the verdict of the jury and maintain their innocence.
They have been in custody since the guilty verdicts were handed down last April. The court heard the men all have partners who support them.
Treated as minors
Conor Devally SC, representing Genockey, and Mark Nicholas SC, representing Ryan, told the court their clients were both minors at the time of the offence and should be treated as such.
Dominic McGinn SC said that although his client, Rooney, was 18 at the time, he was just a couple of months older than the others and should be treated in the same way.
“He was not any more mature than the other two and maybe less so,” Mr McGinn said, adding that Rooney was diagnosed with ADHD and found to have a mild intellectual disability.
The court heard Rooney has 225 previous convictions, including violent disorder, drugs, public order offences, trespass, theft and road traffic matters.
Mr McGinn said that since serving a prison sentence for prior offences and becoming a father, Rooney has resolved to put his “petty offending, violence and drug use” behind him. He said sexual offending was completely out of character for Rooney.
Mr Devally outlined Genockey's background, telling the court that he set up his own bike repair shop business with the help of his parents. He has no previous convictions.
Mr Devally said the deprivation of liberty was painful for Genockey, who has a child with his current partner.
Although Genockey has found it difficult to accept his status as a sex offender, he is open to getting treatment in prison and has been found to be at a low risk of reoffending, the court heard.
Mr Nicholas said Ryan has matured in the six years since the offence. Although he maintains he did not commit a crime, he is “reconsidering whether consent was given”, the court heard.
He was a “17-year-old immature person” at the time, Mr Nicholas said, but now has empathy for the victim and her difficult background.
Ryan has 24 previous convictions including for theft and drugs, but had no previous convictions at the time of the rape.
Eilis Brennan SC, prosecuting, said that if the men had been adults at the time of the offending, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would have recommended a headline sentence of 10-15 years.
Mr Justice Keane said he would pass down sentence on November 4th.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/, or visit Rape Crisis Help.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
