Connacht Tribune
Peeping Tom in ladies’ toilet cubicle wins sentence appeal
A pervert who was caught spying on a woman through a peephole in a toilet cubicle has been successful in his appeal to have his four-month prison sentence suspended.
59-year-old Vincent Moran, of 75 Riveroaks, Claregalway, admitted to Gardaí when arrested last year that he loved hiding in public toilets so he could get a thrill watching women go to the toilet.
Moran, a former ESB employee, pleaded guilty before Galway District Court last June to intentionally engaging in offensive conduct of a sexual nature in a public place at the Ardilaun Hotel, Taylor’s Hill, on February 16 last year.
A four-month prison sentence was imposed in the District Court at the time, which Moran appealed last week to the Circuit Court on the grounds of severity only.
The appeals court heard this was not Moran’s first time before a court for watching women going to the toilet, as he had been given the benefit of the Probation Act in 2006, for spying on another woman in another city hotel toilet in 2005.
The victim of last year’s offence broke down and cried in the witness box as she recounted the incident to Judge Marie Keane at the initial hearing before Galway District Court last June.
“I’ve been left feeling humiliated and degraded by what happened to me,” she sobbed.
She had been attending a wedding with her partner and went into the women’s toilet in the early hours of the morning.
She went into a cubicle and as she sat down, she noticed a peephole in the cubicle wall adjoining the next cubicle.
She took a wad of toilet paper and put it into the hole. However, the plug of paper popped back out again and when she looked through the hole, she could see an eye staring back at her.
The woman immediately left the cubicle and called her partner. She saw a pair of chunky men’s shoes when she looked under the door of the other cubicle before leaving the toilets.
She was making a complaint to staff at reception when she noticed a man wearing the same chunky shoes leave through the front door of the hotel and get into a taxi.
Her partner managed to take a photo of Moran before he got away.
Sergeant Kieran Duignan told the District Court he tracked Moran down through the Garda Pulse system and arrested and questioned him on April 7 last year.
“During interview, he [Moran] admitted going into women’s toilets for the thrill of watching women going to the toilet,” Sgt Duignan told the court.
According to a psychological assessment handed into court, there was a high risk of Moran reoffending if he did not engage in counselling or psychotherapy.
Judge Keane said this was Moran’s second offence and he had admitted to the psychologist this year that he committed this type of offence many times over many years.
She noted Moran had been given an opportunity to receive counselling in 2006 which he refused and he didn’t go for counselling either since this second offence occurred, which showed he was not taking it seriously.
Imposing the four-month sentence, Judge Keane said she had a duty to protect the public and the only way she could protect it was by imposing the custodial sentence.
Moran appealed the severity of her sentence at a District Court Appeal hearing before the Circuit Court last Friday.
Sgt Duignan outlined the facts of the case again and told the appeal hearing Moran admitted going to the hotel that night “with the sole intention of doing what he did”.
Prosecuting State solicitor, Willie Kennedy said that presumably Moran had drilled the hole in the cubicle wall or had “caused the hole to come into being”.
Sgt Duignan said Moran made no admission about drilling the hole, but when he himself examined the toilets there were no similar type peepholes in any of the other cubicles.
Defence barrister, Garry McDonald, said Moran had lost his job as a result of his conviction and was no longer a member of local societies or groups in Claregalway.
He attributed media coverage of the case last June to Moran’s current isolation in his community.
“He was a lonely character before this and is more so now due to the embarrassment and shame,” Mr McDonald said.
He conceded Moran had not gone for counselling before last June’s District Court appearance, but was engaging well with his counsellor now.
He asked for the sentence to be suspended so that Moran could continue with counselling and avail of the support his brothers, who were present in court, could give him.
Judge Eoin Garavan said this was a sinister offence. He agreed that if Moran had gone for counselling in 2006 for his voyeuristic tendencies, he might not have reoffended.
“He was treated very leniently in 2006 and he didn’t go for counselling then because he got away with it.
“He has issues and, worryingly, there are no explanations in the [psychological] report as to why he does this,” the judge noted.
He said Moran was probably a pariah in his own locality but he had only himself to blame for that.
However, he said, Moran deserved a chance due to his age and his willingness to undergo counselling now.
He suspended the sentence for three years on condition Moran continue to receive psycho-therapy and counselling and comply with all directions from his doctors. He bound him to keep the peace and not reoffend for three years.
Judge Garavan also directed Moran make a €1,000 donation to an appropriate women’s charity, saying “he needs to pay a price for what he did by feeling a bit of pain in his wallet”.
Mr Kennedy suggested the donation be offered to the Galway Rape Crisis Centre and if declined, the money could be offered to St Vincent de Paul.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
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