Tears in court as married father of four jailed for rape of vulnerable farmhand
Thomas 'Tossy' Nyhan, 60, Crookstown, Co Cork, was sentenced to 11 and a half years, with the final year suspended, for raping the man in April 2019.
Nyhan, who has four children, received a second sentence of 8 and a half years for raping the man in January 2011. The rapes occurred at a location in Limerick, the court heard.
As both sentences are to run concurrent to each other, Nyhan will only serve part of the longest sentence. The sentences were backdated to June 23 last, when Nyhan first entered custody. He has no previous convictions.
Nyhan had contested two counts of anal rape of the victim, but he was unanimously convicted by a jury of both rapes following an 11-day trial held at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, last May.
Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring had previously lifted reporting restrictions last May, allowing Nyhan be named. The judge also directed that the victim was entitled to his anonymity and ordered that he not be identified.
The victim told the trial that the rapes were so painful they were like 'barbed wire' inside him.
The victim wrote in a victim impact statement that there were "not words strong enough to capture the pain" he had suffered.
"He (Nyhan) raped me twice. This was not a moment of confusion. It was cold, calculated and violent – he knew what he was doing – and eight years later he did it again," the man said.
"This is what he chose. This is who he is. I trusted him and told him about my trauma and vulnerabilities and he controlled, degraded and violated me in the most horrific way."
The man said that Nyhan spoke about his own children during one of the rapes, which the victim described as "twisted and inhumane".
He said he disclosed the second rape to his GP in 2019, because, he said, he 'could not hold the weight of his abuse any longer". Later, he told Gardaí he had also been raped by Nyhan in 2011.
The man told how he continues to feel like he is being watched and feels "trapped" by feelings of being "constantly sick with anxiety".
'I am a ghost of the man I used to be. I am broken, alone. I have no one, because my barriers are always up," the man said.
"He (Nyhan) is a rapist and that will follow him for the rest of his life and it should."
The victim encouraged others similarly affected by sexual crimes to seek help and try and bring the perpetrators to justice: 'Please hear this – standing up and speaking out is one of the most hardest things but it is powerful and life-changing.'
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Previously, the victim asked Ms Justice Ring to impose a sentence on Nyhan that reflected his crimes: 'Let it say this matters – we matter. Please show what I lost matters. What he did matters.'
The man thanked the jury "for listening and for believing me – that has meant more to me than you will ever know".
When questioned by Gardaí in May 2019, Nyhan accepted sexual activity had occurred between him and the victim, yet he denied raping him.
The prosecution case was presented in court by senior counsel Fionnuala O'Sullivan and barrister Lily Buckley, who were instructed by Aoife O'Halloran, Chief State Solicitor's Office, after an investigation by Gardaí attached to the National Garda Protective Services Bureau, (NGPSB), at Henry Street Garda Station, Limerick City, which deals solely with sexual crimes.
During the trial, and under cross-examination by Nyhan's barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, the victim agreed that he had remained in regular contact with Nyhan following the first rape in 2011.
The victim described as 'lies', unfounded claims by Nyhan that he had asked the farmer for money for sex and that he had grabbed Nyhan's 'crotch' a number of times and removed his own clothes to have sex with Nyhan.
The victim told Mr Nicholas: 'I told him (Nyhan) to stop, I didn't like it.'
When asked by the barrister what he was doing when he alleged that Nyhan was removing his trousers and underpants, the victim replied: 'I was just scared, I just froze.'
The victim described as 'bullshit' further unfounded claims by Nyhan, put by the barrister, that the victim had been in possession of 'a knife' at the time and that Nyhan 'was afraid' he'd harm himself, and that Nyhan 'pretended to go along' with sex.
The victim told the court Nyhan threw him on the bed, and 'thrust' himself into the victim telling him he 'loved' him, despite the victim's pleas of 'No'. The victim told the court Nyhan's denials were 'lies'.
'It was like barbed wire... it was like hell, like something burning you,' the victim said, breaking down in tears.
Nyhan's wife, Mary Nyhan, supported her husband to court every day of his trial and throughout the criminal proceedings.
Before he was being led away to prison today, members of Nyhan's family cried, roared and hugged him.
DNA Swabs taken by forensic Gardaí of a stain at the scene of the 2019 rape matched Nyhan's DNA profile.
The judge said Nyhan had told the victim that 'he couldn't have sex' with his wife.
'Nyhan said to the victim if he had sex with him he could go home and have sex with his wife. He then took the victim into a bedroom, took off his pants and had anal intercourse.'
Commenting on Nyhan, the judge said: 'He is a man without prior criminal convictions, and to all intents and purposes lived the quiet, hard-working life of a farmer.'
The judge said Nyhan, who was represented by Mark Nicholas SC, Liam Carroll BL, instructed by solicitor Sarah Ryan, had acted in a 'serious and sinister' fashion.
'It is clear that Nyhan knew that the victim had not told anyone of the 2011 rape, and thus he had the confidence to rape again in 2019, assuming that the victim would stay silent again,' the judge said.
In mitigation, the judge took into consideration Nyhan's age, no previous convictions, health difficulties and that he has been a hard-working family man.
If you have been affected by the contents of this article, support is available from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre at 1800 778888 or drcc.ie.
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