Fiona Ferguson and Sonya McLean
An Offaly man convicted of coercively controlling, raping, assaulting and falsely imprisoning his former partner has been jailed for 14 and half years.
Lisa O’Meara, who waived her anonymity so that her rapist Barry Murphy could be named, told the Central Criminal Court in her victim impact statement that she was not sure if she was more haunted by what she remembered or what she had blocked out.
“I am proud of myself for being here,” she told the court. “You thought you were untouchable and I would be forever under your control,” she said, telling Murphy she was now looking forward to a happy and bright future.
The court heard the front door of the couple’s home was “riveted shut” and Ms O'Meara had no means of communication with the outside world before she escaped to the home of an acquaintance.
Ms O’Meara made her escape from the house the night after the final rape and sexual assault. She waited until Murphy fell asleep before managing to exit the house and get away in a taxi.
Murphy (39) of Grogan, Ballycumber, Co Offaly, was convicted by a jury at a trial sitting in Tullamore earlier this year of three counts of raping Ms O'Meara on dates between February 8th, 2018 and February 24th, 2020.
He was also convicted of coercive control of her over an 18 month period between January 1st, 2019 and July 4th, 2020.
He was further convicted of one count of sexually assaulting her in 2020, three counts of assaulting causing her harm in 2018, 2019 and 2020 and one count of falsely imprisoning her in 2020. He was acquitted of a further count of false imprisonment.
The offences occurred at locations in Co Offaly, apart from one of the assaults which was committed abroad on a holiday.
He has a number of previous convictions for road traffic and public order offences.
Timothy O’Leary SC, prosecuting, confirmed that Ms O’Meara wished to waive her anonymity.
Garda concerns
Passing sentence on Monday, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo noted that the gardaí had concerns for Ms O’Meara and were actively looking for her at the time.
He noted that one garda had “the admirable professional insight” to record one of Ms O’Meara’s statements of complaint as he had concerns that she would attempt to withdraw it later.
Mr Justice Naidoo said the garda was “justified” as Ms O’Meara did try to withdraw her complaint later and the video of her statement was played to the jury during the trial.
The judge acknowledged from the victim impact statement that the victim had been left feeling worthless and had no confidence. He noted that she said she found herself “fighting every day to heal” and she felt that Murphy “ripped away my identity, little by little”.
Mr Justice Naidoo said the three rapes and sexual assault happened “for all intents and purposes when Ms O’Meara was a hostage in the house”.
“He exercised a significant level of control over her various activities including her relationship with her friends,” the judge said before he also took into account that the offences involved violence and that it took place within the context of a relationship.
He said Murphy had restricted Ms O’Meara’s “movement and her liberty” and that it was committed over a two-year period in the context of an ongoing conduct which amounted to coercive control.
Headline sentence
Mr Justice Naidoo set a headline sentence of 17 years for the rape offence.
He said the coercive control offence warranted a headline sentence of four years, while the assault offences warranted a headline sentences of between three and half and five years.
He said the false imprisonment deserved a headline sentence of six years, while he gave the sexual assault offences a headline sentence of five and half years.
Mr Justice Naidoo said in terms of mitigation Murphy did not plead guilty, does not accept the verdict of the jury and has not shown any remorse.
He acknowledged testimonials before the court which described Murphy as a good father and a successful businessman who provides employment in the local area.
Mr Justice Naidoo imposed a global sentence of 15 and half years after he said that all the sentences would run concurrently. He suspended the last year of the term on strict conditions.
Injuries
An investigating garda told Mr O’Leary that the offending in relation to rapes, sexual assaults and physical assaults took place over a two year period between 2018 and February 2020. Ms O’Meara suffered injuries such as a fractured eye socket and broken nose.
Gardai had called to the house in January 2020 after receiving information that there was concern for her safety. Entrances to the house and his business were blocked and gardai sought to enter the house to see if Ms O’Meara was present.
Unknown to gardai, Ms O’Meara was brought out the back of the house and through fields to a road where Murphy took her away from the scene in a vehicle. It took 24 hours for them to be located which gardaí did by triangulating the location of Murphy’s phone.
Ms O’Meara was found in the vehicle with extensive physical injuries.
Gardai took a statement from Ms O’Meara after her escape from the house in February 2020, which was video-taped.
The garda told the court they became aware she had returned to the relationship for a time and they had concerns for her safety. She subsequently came to the garda station twice and asked for her complaints to be withdrawn.
On one of those occasions, she was driven there by Murphy.
Murphy’s bail was revoked as Ms O’Meara living with him was a breach of his conditions.
Coercive control
The court heard in relation to the coercive control, which continued until July 2020, Ms O’Meara told gardaí she had no control over her life and could not leave the house. She said Murphy would lock the back door and take the key. She said he was very possessive and she was in fear of him.
During the trial ,Ms O’Meara said she could not remember events and her video taped statements to gardaí were played in court for the jury.
In her victim impact statement earlier this year, Ms O’Meara told the court that prior to 2018 she had been a happy and carefree young woman with a great life. She said after that her life changed drastically in the worst way at the hands of Murphy.
She said she had started off madly in love but Murphy took over control of her life and broke her down piece by piece until she felt worthless and had no confidence.
She said she lost her friends and her family wanted her to leave. She said she love him but was also terrified of him.
She outlined how she suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse and was made to feel crazy and insecure for her normal reactions to what was happening
“I cannot put into words what I went through,” Ms O’Meara said, “It completely destroyed me.”
She said she kept asking herself why he would do this to her if he really loves her but knows she will never get the true answer. “The life I imagined for myself is completely shattered,” she said.
Ms O’Meara said she is completely traumatised and has been left suffering flashbacks and with PTSD. She described to the court how the abuse continues to negatively impact her everyday life.
She said she is working hard to build herself back up and her children keep her going.
Mr O’Leary said the DPP had instructed this case fell into the highest category with a headline sentence band of between 15 years and life imprisonment. He said this was “rarely done”.
John Peart SC, defending, said Murphy does not accept the verdict of the jury and his client is not of the view that he is guilty. He said this was a domestic situation that got out of hand.
He said Murphy was a man who ran his own haulage company of articulated lorries and a car repair business with an extensive yard. He handed in a number of testimonials.
Counsel said in relation to the door being “riveted shut” that it was in fact screwed shut and this was as a result of it being breached during a previous garda search. He said as a result the back door was commonly used.
He submitted to the court that these offences do not fall into the highest category.
Ms O'Meara speaks outside court
Ms O’Meara spoke outside the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday following the jailing of her former partner Barry Murphy for rape, assault, false imprisonment and coercive control.
Murphy (39) of Grogan, Ballycumber, Co Offaly, was convicted by a jury at a trial sitting in Tullamore, Co Offaly earlier this year.
Ms O’Meara said: “I’m glad I got justice for myself, it's the best thing to come out of an awful situation.”
“And I hope women in a similar situation will take from this that they can get out of a bad relationship an abusive relationship and get justice for themselves too.”
“Don’t be afraid. Just leave, you have to leave, don’t stay, because it doesn’t get better. It just gets worse and worse. I just say to every woman out there: don’t be afraid, speak up.”
Ms O ‘Meara said she was “happy justice has been served”.
"I’ve been silenced for too long.”
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.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email [email protected]) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email [email protected]) for support and information.
Safe Ireland also offers a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
