Rape sentencing - the irony that

[KanyesVest]

In a country where the Minister for Justice, Chief State Solicitor, Attorney General, Director of Public Prosecutions, and Garda (Police) Commissioner are all women, men who commit rape still don't have to expect custodial sentences. I feel sick. www.rte.ie/news/2015/0714/714649-Meyer-Hustveit/

Here's the sentencing guidelines for rape in Wales & England - not sure if this covers Scotland & NI.

Cadno - it's in the Republic of Ireland (as link makes clear and ref. to Garda indicates).

You're right, OP, it is shocking. Especially since he wrote to her and basically admitted what he'd been doing - bloody hell, what more do you need by way of evidence (and the insight into his underlying mindset that it gives)?

Lurcio - Yes, I'm providing interested readers with the guidelines for Wales and England.

Sorry Cadno, I forgot not everyone is inside my head! Yes, as Lurcio says, this has happened in Ireland.

I've been listening to Niamh Ní Dhomhnaill on some of the morning radio shows and she is so eloquent and brave. In spite of his admission of guilt, not only was he not sentenced, she is also getting the usual shit thrown at her about not waking up during the attacks, why she didn't leave, etc. The unbridled bravery of a faceless, nameless texter having a go at a rape survivor.

The judge didn't opt for a custodial sentence because the rapist in this case had been honest. Without his own admission via an email, he would never have been prosecuted.

This is more than a little troubling. If the only way to secure a conviction is via a confession from the perpetrator then surely it becomes a farce. I believe Ched Evans implicated himself via his own testimony, and that's how they were able to convict.

I do feel that rape should always carry a custodial sentence of some kind. It's simply too serious a crime not to.

I had an ex-gf who was raped in her sleep in similar circumstances, although crucially at the time she told me she didn't name it rape, so at the time I didn't either. It did however affect her deeply.

i was also a bit confused by Magnus's rationalisation for raping in the first place. Apparently he wasn't "allowed" to watch pornography and/or masturbate within his relationship. I literally cannot fathom how that justified his actions in his own head.

Dervel - Technically speaking it was a custodial sentence, but it was not an immediate one, rather it was suspended one.

Talking about the Garda Commissioner should really have been enough of a clue about where this referred to really.....

Rape sentencing is a fucking joke.

Just not a funny one.

Cadno, do you find the sentence appropriate?

Dervel, I may have misheard or missed part of what was said, but even more disturbing than the rationalisation that he "wasn't allowed" to masterbate, I thought it was that she had asked him not to masterbate over her, to porn, while she slept. I hadn't even thought about the issue you raise about admitting guilt and the impact that has on sentencing. I just read a report of the judge's comment in the Irish Times.
Sorry to hear your ex went through such an awful experience.

(and apologies for any incorrect terminology in posts, no legal knowledge at all, further hampered by the red mist)