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Irish boxing chief guilty of sexually assaulting young woman while she was unconscious

Irish boxing chief guilty of sexually assaulting young woman while she was unconscious

The woman said she feared her drink had been spiked as she was alone with the older man – and was horrified to discover the following day that, while she had been unconscious, photographs were taken of her private parts.

Gerry O’Mahony (67) was convicted of the sexual assault of the then-19-year-old woman by a Waterford Circuit Criminal Court jury following a five-day trial.

The jury of 10 men and two women returned the unanimous guilty verdict after four hours of deliberation over Tuesday and Wednesday.

O’Mahony, of Murphy Place, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, remained emotionless as the jury verdict was returned.

A married businessman and father, he stepped aside from his role as IABA president when the current court proceedings emerged.

He bowed his head as Judge Eugene O’Kelly remanded him in custody to Cork Prison for sentencing on December 3.

The victim was hugged by friends and supporters in the public gallery of the court as the guilty verdict was returned.

Conor O’Doherty BL, for the State, told the court that the victim wants to remain anonymous.

However, the court heard that the woman is happy to have O’Mahony publicly identified.

Judge O’Kelly had ruled that, throughout the trial, nothing could be published that could identify either the defendant or the complainant.

He ruled that O’Mahony now had no entitlement to anonymity but that nothing should be published that might identify the victim.

Judge O’Kelly also noted that the matter was of “some antiquity”.

Todays News in 90 Seconds – October 30 2024

Defence counsel Tom Kelly BL applied for his client to be remanded on continuing bail.

He said the 67-year-old had a pacemaker and defibrillator fitted that was linked to monitoring services at University Hospital Waterford (UHW).

Mr Kelly said his client had “unique and challenging health difficulties” that would prove problematic in custody.

O’Mahony had previously suffered cardiac issues which left him in a coma.

However, having considered medical reports which dated back nine years, Judge O’Kelly said the man’s status had changed and he was no longer innocent.

Judge O’Kelly said he was satisfied the Irish Prison Service was capable of dealing with the health issues involved and remanded O’Mahony in custody to appear again before Waterford Circuit Criminal Court for sentencing on December 3.

The court was told that a victim impact statement will be ready for that date.

O’Mahony had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the then-teenager when his trial opened on October 23.

He was charged with the sexual assault of a woman on a date unknown between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010.

The location of the alleged incident was at a premises in Waterford.

The man had denied the incident ever occurred.

On one occasion before the assault, she said the man parked in a remote car park and asked her for oral sex or a hand-job.

She rebuffed him and he drove her home after a delay.

The woman said she found the alleged incident “creepy” and was shocked by his request.

Some weeks later, she went to his business premises to get a lift home.

She said the man insisted she have a drink while she waited and, after accepting a single vodka, she suddenly felt dizzy and drowsy.

The court heard she feared something had been put in her drink.

When she awoke some time later, her boots, trousers and underwear had been removed – and the man was sexually assaulting her.

She challenged the man and she said he replied that they were “just having fun”.

She was shocked the following day to receive a text message with an attached image she could not open.

The man later informed her the image was a photo of her genitals.

She said he later refused to delete the images from his phone.

The man insisted the incident never happened.

However, he said there was a drunken consensual kiss with the complainant on another occasion.

She vehemently denied that this had ever happened.

The businessman said he did “fancy” the woman but had dismissed any feelings for her because of the disparity in their ages, the woman being 18-19 years old while he was in his early 50s.

“But I did not [at any time] force myself on her,” the defendant insisted.

Defence counsel Colman Cody SC stressed that his client was not on trial for being “creepy” or behaving in an objectionable manner.

Conor O’Doherty BL, for the State, had urged the jury to convict given the evidence offered.

He said a friend of the woman had confirmed she was informed of the alleged incident at the time – and had seen that the defendant sent a message to the young woman.

The friend urged the woman to go to gardaí but she did not, explaining to the trial that she could not cope with it at the time and did not want anyone to know what had happened.

She was also afraid of being judged and local gossip.

She went to the gardaí around 12 years later after becoming incensed at a social media post by the businessman who had spoken of the importance of honesty and integrity as he campaigned for the IABA post of president.

In a series of private messages in 2021, she challenged him over “practising what you preach” – and accused him of taking advantage of her.

In one message she wrote: “You raped me – that’s what you did. I looked up to you – but you sexually assaulted me.”

The man replied that he did not want to put his version of events in writing and stressed to the woman that he had suffered multiple serious health issues.

However, he said the woman’s message gave him “pause for reflection”.

“The suggestion that he knew nothing about this [allegation] is critically undermined by these Facebook messages,” Mr O’Doherty said.

Mr Cody said his client had met Waterford gardaí without a solicitor when the complaint was first raised and gave them a voluntary statement.

In that statement, he said he recalled a consensual drunken kiss with the woman.

“If a man is being accused of sexually assaulting someone that he knows, isn’t it the obvious step to say nothing that would implicate you or that would taint you with impropriety?”

Mr Cody said that despite the statement about the consensual kiss not painting his client in a flattering light – the man was married and was a father – “he volunteered it”.

“[He] is not on trial for being creepy or behaving in an objectionable manner,” he said

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