A rape victim was subjected to “sexually abusive language” by friends of the accused after his conviction, a court heard on Tuesday.
A Crown Court judge was told the woman, who was raped seven years ago by her then boyfriend, was subjected to “an on-line almost news feed transmission of verbal abuse using sexually abusive language”.
The prosecution barrister also told Judge Philip Gilpin that a family member of the rapist had verbally abused the victim as she made her way into court for yesterday’s sentencing hearing by calling the victim a liar.
At the Crown Court in Derry sitting in Belfast, Judge Gilpin jailed James McColgan, 26, from Hollymount Park in the Waterside area of Derry for five years. McColgan, who had no previous convictions, was convicted following a trial last May of raping his then 18-year-old girlfriend in his family home on August 3, 2014.
Judge Gilpin also placed McColgan, who worked in the hospitality industry, on the Sex Offender’s Register for an indefinite period and also imposed a Restraining Order on him for five years.
McColgan, who was accused of “victim blaming” by the prosecutor, raped his then girlfriend after they had had consensual sex in his home. He maintains his innocence.
“She was in tears. She begged him and begged him to stop but he wouldn’t”, the prosecutor said.
“It is highly unusual that, post conviction, there has been abusive contact”, he added.
The barrister said there was no evidence that McColgan had sent abusive messages to the victim following his conviction, rather they seemed to come from his friends despite the fact that the victim had life long anonymity.
He said those who had verbally abused the victim “showed a similar victim blaming reaction to the offending as to that shown by the defendant”.
Defence barrister Martin Rodgers QC said McColgan “had no control over how others, his friends, reacted to his conviction”.
Judge Gilpin said it was not unusual for McColgan and his victim to engage in consensual sex when she stayed overnight in his home during their two year relationship.
“On the date in question you had consensual sex but then she withdrew her consent but you continued to have sex with her”, he told McColgan.
Judge Gilpin said in the months after the rape McColgan had engaged in sending on-line messages to the victim. In one of them he apologised for his actions and said he loved her.
“The jury clearly found she had withdrawn her consent and that you raped her”, he said.
“When you raped her you did so in the context of your established relationship with her. Any rape is a traumatic and humiliating experience”, Judge Gilpin added.
