Overview
- The court sentenced Craig O’Connell to 11 years with the final two suspended for rape, an effective nine-year term, and imposed a concurrent six-year sentence for demanding money with menaces.
- Prosecutors said he invented a €12,000 drug debt, threatened to have the girl and her family harmed, and in January 2024 raped her in a hotel while recording the assault.
- After the rape he took more than €11,000 in value from her, including her parents’ wedding band and €6,500 engagement ring, bank card details, and a tablet, with the rings later recovered but most money not repaid.
- The girl said she no longer feels safe and has had suicidal thoughts, while her former boyfriend said O’Connell tormented him with a false €45,000 debt, made him sell drugs, and left him fearing harm.
- Judge David Keane said the offending was deliberately planned, cited O’Connell’s 62 prior convictions, and took further sexual and theft charges into account, including producing and coercing a child to make sexual images.