Man who raped elderly, vulnerable neighbour jailed for 13 years

Isabel Hayes

A man who attacked and raped his elderly, vulnerable neighbour during a violent home invasion, causing her “life-altering” harm, has been jailed for 13 years.

Shane Kelly (36) forced his way into the 70-year-old woman's home late at night and subjected her to an ordeal in which he forced himself on her sexually, choked her and robbed her of petty cash, the Central Criminal Court heard.

The complainant, Anne Gallagher, has chronic health issues, including arthritis and requires mobility aids which Kelly was aware of, the court heard.

Sentencing him on Monday, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said she disagreed with the Director of Public Prosecution's assessment of the seriousness of the case, which placed Kelly in the 10 to 15 years category. The judge said she believed his culpability was “of a particularly extreme level”.

“I consider the harm caused (to Ms Gallagher) has been life-altering in every conceivable way,” the judge said, noting she has lost her independence.

She said that in coming to this conclusion, she had regard to the fact that four types of sexual violation were carried out against Ms Gallagher, that the offence included the use of violence and manual strangulation, that it was an egregious violation of her home and that the offence was carried out was purely for his sexual gratification.

Kelly, of no fixed abode in Edgeworthstown, Co Longford, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted rape, one count of oral rape, one count of anal rape and one count of burglary at the woman's home in the early hours of February 25th, 2025.

The court heard Ms Gallagher wished to waive her anonymity in order for Kelly to be named.

Detective Garda Rachel Deignan told Diana Stuart SC, prosecuting, that Ms Gallagher returned to Ireland for her retirement after a successful career in finance in the USA.

In her victim impact statement, which was read out by counsel, Ms Gallagher said her hometown was a place of “comfort, safety, sanctuary”. “I never imagined something so horrific could happen to me here,” she said.

She thought she was going to be killed that night and felt dirty and violated in the wake of the attack.

“Before the rape I was a carefree person,” she said. “I would potter to the shops and walk to mass.” Now she is fearful and no longer feels safe in her home, she said.

“My independence is gone because of this rape,” she said, adding that her mobility issues have worsened and her body has deteriorated.

“After a long period of contemplation, I have chosen to forgive,” she said. “I feel I need to do this for myself, to heal and let go of the hurt and pain.”

She said she survived that “horrific night” with God's help and she was in court to ensure Kelly “doesn't get the opportunity to harm anyone else”.

Passing sentence, Ms Justice Melanie Greally said Kelly was aware of Ms Gallagher's vulnerability when he carried out the premeditated attack.

She said it was clear Ms Gallagher was a woman of great faith. “Consistent with that faith, she has remarkably and admirably chosen to forgive Mr Kelly for his actions.”

When a letter of apology by Kelly was made known to her, she responded: “That's nice”.

Ms Justice Greally said that in a case as serious as this, the sentence must be punitive. She set a headline sentence of 18 years, which she reduced to 14 and a half years, taking mitigating factors into account.

She suspended the final 18 months of that sentence on a number of conditions.

On the day in question, the court heard Ms Gallagher had been brought to her local social club by bus, had visited her optician and had a home help visit her for an hour in the evening.

Around 1am, she went upstairs to bed via her stairlift before she decided to go back downstairs to make sure she had locked the door. She then heard a knock on her front door and opened it, expecting it to be one of her neighbours in need of something.

Instead, a masked man – the defendant – walked in the door and locked it behind him. He then put his hand over her mouth and pulled her over the couch, pulling at her clothes. He attempted to rape her but told her, “It's not going in”, before he orally raped her.

Ms Gallagher was “frightened out of her wits” and could not fight against the man, who she described as strong.

As she pleaded with him to stop, he held her around the neck and told her: “I'm going to choke you.” He then anally raped her before telling her to give him some money. She managed to get her handbag and hand him a €20 and €5 note from her purse before he walked out of the house.

She rang her local garda station and gardaí were immediately dispatched to her house, where they found her in a distressed state with a visible strangulation mark on her neck. She was taken to a sexual assault treatment unit where multiple bruising to her body was documented.

A garda investigation was launched and CCTV footage from the area showed Kelly loitering in the area in the early hours of the morning and looking in Ms Gallagher's window. He was identified from the footage as a neighbour, arrested and interviewed.

He said he had no recollection of anything that night as he was on cocaine. He said he had known Ms Gallagher for the last 15 years, that he had previously helped her with her shopping and he thought she was in her 80s. He described her as “friendly and nice”.

He described the actions attributed to him as those of an “animal” but maintained he had no recollection of them.

Ms Gallagher said she had no recollection of Kelly ever helping her with her shopping.

In his plea of mitigation, Michael Bowman SC, defending, said Kelly had written a letter of apology in which he expressed his “great shame and regret” for his actions that night.

Defence counsel said Kelly had a long history of alcohol and drug addiction and at one point, was taking 20 Solpadeine tablets a day. A Probation Service report found he requires intervention for sexual preoccupation, impulsivity and drug abuse. It found him at a medium risk of re-offending.

He comes from a stable family background and has two children from a previous relationship. He is doing well in custody, the court heard.

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.