Connacht Tribune
Suspended sentence for bus driver over child sex assault
A retired school bus driver from Ballyconneely was given a ten-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay €20,000 in compensation to a woman he sexually assaulted when she was a child 38 years ago.
Brendan Joyce (68) of Doohulla, Ballyconneely, indecently assaulted his neighbour’s child, thirteen-year-old Catherine McEvoy, contrary to Common Law and as provided for by Section 10 of the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981.
The victim waived her right to anonymity at Galway Circuit Criminal Court so that Joyce, who committed what Judge Brian O’Callaghan described as a ‘grotesque offence’ when he was 30 years old, could be named.
In April, after a four-day trial, a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on the charge against Joyce who the court heard still refused to acknowledge his wrongdoing.
Garda Barry Maguire said the defendant, now a married father of a teenage son, had led his victim to a field near her home on a date between June 1 and September 30, 1984, where he carried out the assault.
He said Joyce had touched her around her genitals and attempted to digitally penetrate her before she kicked him and managed to break free, returning home to alert her mother.
Ms McEvoy made a complaint to gardaí in 2019 and Joyce was arrested and interviewed, but “wasn’t of any assistance”, said Garda Maguire.
In her victim impact statement, which she read to the court, Ms McEvoy recalled how “on a beautiful summer’s day 35 years ago”, Joyce lied to her and her siblings so he could separate them and “bring me to a secluded place and molest me”.
“Part of me died that day down the bog,” said an emotional Ms McEvoy.
She said what Joyce had subjected her to had cracked the foundations of her family and changed their “understanding of normalcy and decency”.
Ms McEvoy said she had been left with a very dark and deep depression that stayed with her for years and that Joyce’s arrogance and continued lies were shocking.
“You chose to harm my life for your own sexual gratification,” she said.
The court heard that the victim’s mother had spoken to Joyce’s mother after the assault occurred, and following that, the offender’s mother had instructed him to stay away from Ms McEvoy.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan said that was, as Ms McEvoy put it, “the way things were done in those days”.
Referring to her victim impact statement which he described as ‘most impressive’, the Judge said: “You put no blame on those two ladies, the offender’s mother and your mother.”
Judge Brian O’Callaghan said what Joyce did was “nothing short of despicable”.
During the course of his engagements with the Probation Service, Joyce referred to his mother telling him to stay away from the victim.
“This court is entitled to infer this man knew exactly why his mother told him to stay away from Ms McEvoy,” said Judge O’Callaghan, which he said made the court particularly comfortable with the jury’s decision.
He said the maximum sentence he could impose was two years in prison due to the law at the time the offence occurred.
“Thankfully, the law has been updated since,” said Judge O’Callaghan.
Joyce was placed on the Sex Offenders Register following his conviction.
The court had to impose sentences on a scale based on the seriousness of the crime – and due to the antiquity of the offence, that scale was limited, said Judge O’Callaghan.
“Regretfully, this court has seen much more serious cases of sexual abuse come before it,” he continued.
The maximum proportionate headline sentence he could impose was one year in prison, reduced by two months to ten months, taking into account that this was Joyce’s first offence and he was at low risk of reoffending.
The Judge said the court had to consider if sending the offender to prison for what, ‘in effect’, would be four or five months was the best approach to take and in the circumstances, he said he didn’t believe it was.
However, he said he wanted to force Joyce to recognise the harm he had done and said he would suspend the ten-month sentence for two years provided he paid €20,000 in compensation to his victim.
He said the money was “in no way valuing the hurt” and would not prejudice any other rights the victim had.
“He either recognises the victim and pays that compensation, or he goes to prison,” said Judge O’Callaghan.
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.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
