A man who forced entry into the home of a mother and her teenage daughter, then carried out sexual and physical assaults on the mother, has received a prison sentence of six and a half years, reports RTE.
Christopher Ryan, residing at Fernhill in Clonakilty, west Cork, committed the crime while he was out on bail for a rape charge, at a residence in Co Cork during January 2025, reports RTE.
The 34-year-old, originally from Thurles in Co Tipperary, admitted guilt to aggravated sexual assault on the woman, assault causing harm to both her and her daughter, false imprisonment of the pair, and burglary at the dwelling.
Det Garda Paul Cullen had informed the court earlier that a neighbour raised the alert just before 5am on 12 January 2025 after hearing the teenage girl calling out for assistance, reports RTE.
The neighbour rushed to help the teenager, who explained that a man was inside their home attacking her mother.
She stated that they had both been sleeping when “a man came in and started beating” them, reports RTE.
The mother recounted to gardaà that she awoke to the sound of their dog barking and discovered a man present in the room.
She “kicked out” but he overpowered her and digitally penetrated her through her pyjamas, reports RTE.
The intruder, later identified as Christopher Ryan, struck the mother multiple times on her forehead and the left side of her face.
She told gardaà she believed he was attempting to render her unconscious.
He ceased the blows upon noticing the daughter attempting to flee the house, reports RTE.
He dashed to the landing, while the mother seized a hurley kept in the home and pursued him.
She struck him on the head, causing him to fall, then searched for her daughter who had escaped outside, reports RTE.
A neighbour observed the intruder concealed in a nearby green space and directed gardaà to his location upon their arrival.
Ryan was taken into custody and faced charges related to the events, reports RTE.
In her victim impact statement, the mother described constantly working to “block out” the recurring flashbacks from the ordeal.
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“I don’t feel safe anywhere – I am now terrified of the dark, something I had never experienced or understood before – I am terrified of getting into my car in the dark, checking to see if there is a man following me – I am scared all the time now,” reports RTE.
“I don’t even want to think about or share with anyone how I physically feel sick, dirty and ashamed, violated and I want to puke when I think about what happened to me in front of my daughter. There is no amount of showering I can do to make myself feel clean again,” reports RTE.
The daughter stated in her victim impact statement that she now fears going anywhere alone because of what occurred.
“The fact that he broke into our house … where I am supposed to be safe makes me even more scared about what can happen in other places. Now, I don’t feel safe in my own house so I can’t have friends over for sleepovers and I can’t sleep in my friend’s house. I have also developed really bad trust issues with adults … when people say everything is going to be okay and nothing is ever going to happen to me, I automatically assume that what they are saying is lies because something bad did happen,” reports RTE.
Defence barrister Donal O’Sullivan noted that his client expressed apology and deep remorse for his conduct.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford remarked that the victims “had behaved very bravely” during the night of the crime.
“They should be proud of what they did for each other,” reports RTE.
She described the event as an “appalling incident” and a “terrifying attack” on the victims.
The mother and daughter had informed gardaà that they suspected the intruder was under the influence of drugs during the offence, reports RTE.
Ms Justice Lankford observed that Ryan had no prior convictions until the rape case from 2023.
In July of last year he received a ten-and-a-half-year sentence after pleading guilty to rape, sexual assault, assault causing harm, and criminal damage to a window at a woman’s home in Galway in 2023, reports RTE.
Ms Justice Lankford imposed an eight-year sentence on Ryan but suspended the final 18 months, enabling him to stay under supervision by the Irish Probation and Welfare Service for four years.
The new sentence will run consecutively to the existing rape sentence he is serving, reports RTE.
Ms Justice Lankford stressed the importance of Ryan addressing his addiction problems while in prison.
He is also obliged to engage in offender-focused programmes, reports RTE.
Ryan has already been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
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