A Carlow man who raped and seriously assaulted a woman in her 50s leaving her with life changing injuries, from which she is unlikely to recover, has lost an appeal against the severity of his 18-year sentence.
34 year old Anthony Cassidy attacked the woman as she walked to a shop in the early hours of June 25, 2017, in a Carlow town.
CCTV footage tracked Cassidy’s movements to and from where he dumped his unconscious victim. There was no footage of the incident, which was said to last approximately 30 minutes, but imagery showed a male dragging a person to the location where the victim was discovered 12 hours later.
Cassidy, a father-of-one with an address at Tinryland, Carlow, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape and assault causing serious harm. He had 34 previous convictions, including one for soliciting sex in the UK and two for assaults in this country.
Sentencing him to 18 years imprisonment, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said he would have imposed a life sentence, were it not for Cassidy’s guilty plea and “genuine remorse”.
Upholding his sentence in the Court of Appeal today Mr Justice Michael Peart said the events that occurred on the date in question were “so horrific”, he would refrain from describing them in detail. Members of the victim’s family were present in court for the appeal hearing.
