61-year-old Lucan man who sexually assaulted his stepdaughter to serve full sentence after appeal is rejected

A man who repeatedly sexually assaulted his stepdaughter in the 1990s will serve the full prison term of three years after his appeal against the imposition of consecutive sentences was rejected by the Court of Appeal.  

Noel Foran (61) of Esker Meadow Rise, Lucan, County Dublin, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last July after he pleaded guilty to three sample counts of ten sexual assaults that occurred at the family home between March 14, 1991 and March 13, 1998.  

Foran was sentenced to 18 months on the first and tenth charge with the sentences to run consecutively for the sexual assaults of Irene Cullen while the other eight sexual assaults were taken into consideration by Judge Orla Crowe.  

At the Court of Appeal yesterday (Monday, February 26), Ms Justice Tara Burns said that that as the sentencing judge was entitled to make the sentences consecutive and no error in principle had been established, the court would dismiss Foran's appeal. 

The sentencing court heard that Ms Cullen, who waived her right to anonymity so that Foran could be named, remembered only one specific incident of abuse that occurred on New Year’s Eve when she was aged 11.  

However, Foran told counsellors he had sexually assaulted his stepdaughter approximately ten times, mostly while the child was asleep, when she was aged between six and 13 years old.  

Kieran Kelly BL, defending, told the court that Foran would touch the child’s vagina over and under her clothing, mostly when she was asleep. 

Foran said it never progressed beyond touching and that he would masturbate.  

Foran told counsellors at the time of the assaults that he and his wife, Ms Cullen’s mother, were not sexually active and that he 'needed comfort and attention.'  

At the Court of Appeal earlier this month, Mr Kelly said his client did not resile from his guilty pleas but took issue with the length of the three-year sentence in the imposition of consecutive sentences.  

Counsel said that 'everything that could have been done was done to cure the offending,' referring to Foran’s admissions to and engagement with Granada Institute counsellors. 

The Granada Institute was a treatment centre for child sex abusers that closed down in 2011.  

Mr Kelly said his client was remorseful, lacked previous convictions at the time of sentencing and that a report from the institute said that Foran was 'cured, for want of a better word'. 

Counsel said the use of two 18-month consecutive sentences could be viewed as 'disproportionate or unfair' and, while accepting that it was open to the sentencing judge to do so, they were 'commonly deployed in relation to cases where there is one victim.'

In delivering the judgement of the Court of Appeal today, Ms Justice Burns said that the main point by the appellant’s counsel was that the imposition of consecutive sentences was disproportionate and excessive.   

She said the offending was of a very serious nature, as a case involving a single victim over seven years differentiates from abuse over a short length of time.  

Ms Justice Burns noted that the sentencing judge had marked the seriousness of offending by a person who was in loco parentis and there were serious aggravating factors.  

She noted that the appellant had entered a guilty plea and cooperated, and he had also undertaken counselling.

There was a delay in the case, something Judge Crowe said she would have regards to and took account of, with a three-year sentence being reduced to 18 months, which Ms Justice Burns noted was a 50 per cent reduction.  

Ms Justice Burns said that the court did not agree with the appellant’s submission that the judge made an error in imposing consecutive sentences.

She said the sentencing judge was entitled to do this, and as no error in principle had been established, the court was dismissing the appellant’s appeal.  

At the sentencing court, Ms Cullen read her victim impact statement aloud to the court and said it was impossible to summarise the life-changing effects that the abuse continues to have on her life.  

Ms Cullen said she had been diagnosed with PTSD and other psychiatric disorders as a direct result of the trauma she suffered.

Ms Cullen said she self-harmed with razor blades as a teenager and was first prescribed anti-depressants and sleeping tablets at the age of 16.  

"To this day my sleep is profoundly affected with night terrors, flashbacks, frequent waking and nightmares," she said.  

At the time of the sentencing, Ms Cullen said that she had to spend over 500 days in St Patrick’s Hospital since first making her statement to gardaí in 2017. 

"I now face the difficult road of trying to repair the unmeasurable damage to the broken child inside me," she said. 

If you have been affected by this article, you can find resources to help you by contacting Samaritans Ireland at jo@samaritans.ie or by ringing 116 123, as well as by visiting pieta.ie (Free 24/7 Crisis helpline: 1800 247 247 or Text HELP to 51444).

You can also find additional resources at the Rape Crisis Centre at http://drcc.ie.