Connacht Tribune
Victim wanted paedophile named to protect others
A 70-year-old paedophile has been spared a prison sentence, after his victim said she wanted him identified rather than jailed so that other children can be protected from him.
Gerry Kelly, from Beech Lawn, Ballinasloe, received a three-year suspended prison sentence at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.
He has also been placed on the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.
Kelly had denied six sample charges of indecently assaulting a then vulnerable teenage girl, in circumstances which included oral rape, on dates between January 7, 1985 and January 6, 1986, when the matter first came before the court for trial last February.
A jury was empanelled but shortly before the trial was due to start, Kelly pleaded guilty to one charge of indecently assaulting the girl on dates between November 7, 1985 and January 6, 1986.
Prosecuting barrister, Geri Silke withdrew the remaining five charges and said the matter could be dealt with on a full facts basis.
Sentence was adjourned to last Thursday for Kelly’s defence team to obtain a psychological report under the Free Legal Aid Scheme.
Detective Adrian Fehily, Ballinasloe Garda Station, told the sentence hearing other totally separate matters were being investigated when these offences came to light.
He said the abuse occurred when the vulnerable girl was allowed to attend nightclubs at a very young age.
Kelly was 37 and married when he met the girl in 1985, while working as a bouncer at the East County Hotel nightclub.
He had previously worked in maintenance at Portiuncula Hospital before becoming a woodwork instructor for FAS. He retired from that job in 2014.
Garda Fehily said Kelly befriended the girl, often driving her home when the nightclub finished.
The girl began to trust and confide in him, telling him all her troubles. He comforted her, gave her advice and even offered to bring her to see a psychiatrist.
Kelly began to drive her to isolated areas outside Ballinasloe where he would sexually abuse her.
“No threats or coercion were used and at the time, she believed it was a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.
“Looking back now, she sees it as something different and she wants him to acknowledge what he did was wrong,” Garda Fehily said.
He said Kelly’s guilty plea had been important to the complainant, who did not wish to be in court, and she hoped the sentence hearing would now bring some closure and she could get on with her life.
“She had a fear of the court process and feared having to appear in court.
“Her motivation was never for him to get a custodial sentence. Her motivation has always been to protect other children from him and that he understand the seriousness of what he did.
“Things are improving for her now with the help of her family and closure will come today, hopefully,” Garda Fehily said.
He said Kelly was now aged 70 and had no previous convictions.
Paul Flannery SC, defending, said Kelly was “a valued member of society all through his life” and he had thought the girl was older at the time.
He said it was very fair of the complainant to indicate she had no interest in seeing Kelly go to prison.
A letter of apology from Kelly to the complainant was read into evidence.
Kelly wrote he wanted to apologise for the hurt he caused her, adding he hoped his guilty plea spared her more upset and anguish.
“For whatever it’s worth, I would like you to know I’m truly sorry,” his letter read.
Ms Silke confirmed the woman wanted Kelly identified so long as she was not identified.
Judge Rory McCabe said the abuse had a significant impact on the complainant, being exploited when she was a troubled and vulnerable child.
“He used her for his own sexual gratification. That she trusted and confided in him makes this even more serious. Her attitude, as evidenced in her victim impact statement, is notable.
“She acts with dignity and charity, in stark contrast to Kelly’s callous and deceitful behaviour towards her,” the judge said.
He placed the offences in the mid-range on the scale of gravity, stating that the headline sentence was five years.
The judge said he had to take mitigating factors into account before deciding on the appropriate sentence and those were: Kelly’s plea of guilty, albeit it only came after a jury had been picked and ready to go to trial, and that, he said, highlighted the charitable approach of the complainant while, in contract, casting a shadow on Kelly’s attitude.
“He says he’s sorry in the letter and he co-operated with the investigation but in so far as that goes, he didn’t admit his guilt until the very last minute,” the judge observed.
He said that in cases such as this an immediate custodial sentence would be warranted and inevitable but given the complainant’s Christian attitude, he had reluctantly been persuaded to impose a three-year suspended sentence instead.
“He is a sex offender and is now on the Sex Offender’s Register and that in itself is punishment,” the judge observed, before binding Kelly to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for the next three years.
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.
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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.
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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
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
