A GAA coach who “ruined” the life of the boy he raped has been refused permission by the High Court to appeal against a four-year increase in his sentence for what a judge found were “unusual, shocking and extremely disturbing” offences.

At the Central Criminal Court in December 2021, the man, who cannot be identified to protect the victim’s identity, was sentenced to 10½ years in prison with the final 18 months suspended by Attorney General Michael MacGrath.

On his due date in April 2021, the man (43) pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including oral rape, attempted anal rape, sexual assault, false imprisonment, assault causing harm and criminal damage. The court heard evidence of further sexual assault during a trip to London but these charges were dropped as they had taken place outside the jurisdiction.

The offenses took place at locations including the man’s home, a midlands sports ground and a hotel in Dublin.

The Central Criminal Court heard the man had been extradited from the US to face the charges.

At the Court of Appeal in March, Eilis Brennan SC, for the state, who submitted that the sentence was too low, said the victim endured a “continuum” of sexual and physical abuse as well as “emotional torture” over a six-year period. She told the court the nine-year sentence did not reflect the “destruction” of a young man’s life.

Brennan said the child had been subjected to multiple rapes and sexual assaults beginning when he was 13 and continuing until he was 15. She said the “continuous” harassment of the victim involved “dominion, control and humiliation” and that the victim ” felt that he had to leave college because he was destroyed at every opportunity and he finally had to drop out”.

The successful application led to the Court of Appeal increasing the original sentence to 14 years and six months with the final 18 months suspended, with Judge Tara Burns finding that the sentencing judge had not properly taken into account the “global seriousness” of the offence.

Justice Burns said the case involved repeated sexual abuse compounded by a series of humiliating physical assaults and a wider campaign of harassment.

The judge described the crime as “unusual, shocking and extremely disturbing”. She added: “The injured party, a child of almost all the offenders, and a young man trying to make his way in the world at the end of the crime, was treated in a way that lacked humanity, morality and respect.”

The Supreme Court noted that the man’s appeal against the length of the increased sentence related to a case involving 30 counts of oral rape, 37 counts of sexual assault, attempted oral rape, false imprisonment, criminal damage and criminal damage.

The accused pleaded guilty to 15 counts, agreeing to have the facts of all crimes considered as part of the sentencing process.

The defendant had argued in his application to the Supreme Court that he was in the lower band for sexual violence, that delays in the case constituted an injustice and that there were questions about consent and the age of the victim.

When Judge Peter Charleton, Judge Maurice Collins and Judge Aileen Donnelly refused leave to appeal the increased sentence, the Court of Appeal said the Court of Appeal had carried out a “thorough examination of the facts” to assess the seriousness of the offense and had accepted. delays in the matter.

The High Court judge said there was “nothing” to suggest any law was wrongly applied in what was a “difficult case which was sensitively considered” and that the appropriate upward adjustment of the sentence had been properly made.