Man who said he had no recollection of sexually assaulting a woman in city centre over four years ago is jailed

By Sonya McLean

A homeless man who said he had no recollection of sexually assaulting a woman in Dublin city centre over four years ago has been jailed for two years and three months.

Brian Reilly (49) claimed he had taken a tray of sedatives that night along with alcohol. He was shown CCTV footage of the incident following his arrest and said he had no recollection of it.

Oisín Clarke BL, defending, said his client said that if something similar had happened to his own daughter he would be totally devastated.

Counsel submitted to the court that his client’s previous convictions, which were mainly for theft and public order type offences, indicated that this behaviour was “totally out of character” for Reilly.

Reilly, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the woman in Dublin City on July 18, 2022.

He had 74 previous convictions for theft, burglary and public order offences.

Judge Martin Nolan said that the woman was “minding her own business on this particular night” before she was sexually assaulted by Reilly.

He accepted that while there was no victim impact statement before the court, the woman was clearly “very frightened” by the attack.

He acknowledged that Reilly was intoxicated but said that this was “by his own hand”.

However, he accepted defence counsel’s submission that Reilly was unlikely to re-offend “in the same way”.

Judge Nolan set a headline sentence of three and a half years before he took into account the mitigating features of the case including Reilly’s guilty plea and imposed a sentence of two years and three months.

An investigating garda told Rebecca Smith BL, prosecuting, that Reilly approached the woman as she walked past him. He gestured to her as if asking for the time and she replied “no, sorry” but Reilly kept walking towards her.

He then put his hands up the woman’s shorts and she shoved him backwards and told him “no” but Reilly continued to follow her.

She later told gardaí that Reilly was “in such a state and off his head” that he didn’t seem to understand that she was telling him to leave her alone.

She produced a penknife which she had for her work and threatened to hurt him but Reilly stumbled towards her and exposed his penis.

The woman found two men nearby waiting at a bus stop and asked for their help and Reilly walked away.

She later reported the attack to the gardaí. She provided the gardai with a photograph she had taken of Reilly on her phone.

The court heard that while gardaí were able to identify Reilly as the culprit it took a long time to arrest him as he was living a chaotic life at the time and had been sleeping rough.

Mr Clarke said his client had significant difficulties with alcohol and other substances at that time and did not remember the attack at all.

He said Reilly was “extremely remorseful and upset” and had taken a “tray of sedatives” on the night.

“He was living a chaotic lifestyle and the gardaí were struggling to find him.

“He was not deliberately trying to avoid them,” Mr Clarke said, referring to the fact that it took a long time for the gardaí to arrest Reilly.

“He was not even aware he had committed the offence until the CCTV footage was shown to him,” Mr Clarke said.

“I can’t imagine the court will see him again in relation to offences such as this,” counsel submitted.