Beach sex beast faces eight years jail

A 32-year-old man who sexually assaulted a Spanish woman on the beach – just yards from the diving tower at Blackrock – on a Sunday afternoon, while covering his face with his t-shirt, has been remanded in custody to await psychological assessment prior to sentence.
Tommy Hughes, from Corbally, Cummer, Tuam, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last May to sexually assaulting the 26-year-old woman at Illifanamona Island – a scenic stretch of shoreline situated between the iconic Blackrock diving tower in Salthill and Silver Strand – on Sunday afternoon, October 13, 2013.
Sentencing was adjourned to Wednesday for psychological and psychiatric reports but the court heard that Hughes had not yet been assessed and further time was needed to obtain reports.
The court heard the young woman was sitting alone on the scenic but secluded beach at around 4.30pm when Hughes grabbed her from behind and simulated sex with her through her clothing.
He had pulled his t-shirt up over his face, while his penis was exposed.
The woman bravely fought off her attacker, biting him on his hand, arm and lower chest during what was described as “a serious and sustained assault”, by Garda Mark Cunniffe.
She was knocked to the ground as she successfully kept her tracksuit bottoms in place while the accused tried to pull them down on several occasions.
Hughes eventually ran off but later handed himself into Galway Garda Station in the city where he claimed he had tried to rob a woman earlier.
The woman, who has been living and working in Ireland for five years, read her own very detailed and emotive victim impact statement to the court.
“I know I will never be the same again. I thought I was going to be raped and killed that day. That will always be with me,” she sobbed.
Judge Rory McCabe said that if anyone was in any doubt about how much a sexual assault could impact on a victim then they only had to listen to the devastating account given by the victim in this instance.
“This was a sudden, serious and sustained assault which was at the very top of the scale of seriousness for this type of offence,” the judge said.
He said it warranted an 8-year jail sentence before mitigating or aggravating factors were even considered. He acceded to Mr Browne’s request to delay sentence until Hughes was expertly assessed.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.