Irish soldier from Derry jailed for raping woman

An Irish soldier from Londonderry has been jailed for eight and a half years for raping a woman in a Dublin hotel.

Keelan Mooney, 30, of Bloomfield Park, Derry, was convicted of raping the woman in July 2021 following a trial at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court last December.

The judge refused to suspend any part of Mooney’s sentence after two former partners came forward to refute testimonials given in his favor during the sentencing hearing.

The victim said that Mooney’s actions have seriously affected her mental health and she has started feeling suicidal.

In her powerful statement, the victim said, “What happened changed my life, I don’t want this to happen to anyone.”

She said that telling her family that she was raped was “one of the most heartbreaking experiences”.

After the jury convicted Mooney in December, mitigating factors were provided to the court through affidavits, which served as Mooney’s character references.

He was supported by relatives and friends, with some saying that Mooney was a good father to his five children.

One said, “His children miss him dearly”, another described Mooney as “beloved” by his children and that he was a “devoted father”.

On Monday, the court heard that two women – who have four children with Mooney – had also given statements to the court that their children had had no contact with Mooney and had not for a long time.

One mother said that Mooney had no contact with her after the couple broke up.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the mother said she reached out to him again but, after a short time, her child did not want to see Mooney because he was “always disappointing them” and cut off contact completely in 2022. Done.

The second woman said that her two children have not seen their father for two years.

He said he “never paid child support” and “wasn’t a great father”.

She also told how she “left one of my kids at playschool for 36 minutes because he forgot to bring her twice in a row”.

“I will never let him near my children again,” she said.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt said there had been an attempt to “mislead” him and he “did not take such actions sympathetically”.

The judge said, “The thrust of both statements is the same; he has had no meaningful or positive contact with these children for a long period of time.”

He said that his duties as a father were “grossly exaggerated”.

The judge, citing new information about Mooney’s relationship with his children, said he would not suspend any part of the sentence.

“The evidence is clear” that the victim “is clearly a strong individual, and could have taken the frustration in a normal manner without being falsely accused.”

“It is absolutely clear from his subsequent behavior that what happened was fundamentally wrong.”

He said Mooney showed no sign of regret or acceptance of the conviction in court.