A man has been jailed for twelve years for tying up and raping a woman at a gaming convention in Dublin.
Keith Hearne, whoÂ’s from Tallaght, also admitted falsely imprisoning Dominique Meehan at the Crowne Plaza in Blanchardstown in July 2014.
At Keith HearneÂ’s sentence hearing, the court heard he admitted raping Dominique Meehan in a meeting room during the ArcadeCon gaming convention she was volunteering at.
BREAKING Man jailed for 12 years for tying up and raping a woman at a gaming convention in a Dublin hotel
— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) June 19, 2017
She was preparing the room for a presentation when he locked the door, rugby tackled her to the ground, tied her hands behind her back with his tie and raped her.
She told Gardaí he threatened her with a knife heÂ’d brought to the room in what was described as a “rape kit”.
Ms. Meehan waived her right to anonymity to he could be named.
In her victim impact statement, she said she woke up every night crying for months after the attack thinking heÂ’d come back to finish the job.
VIDEO A very strong and brave Dominique Meehan waived her right to anonymity so she could urge other survivors of rape to come forward pic.twitter.com/qLQm1qvzEb
— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) June 19, 2017
Today, Mr. Justice Patrick McCarthy said he took into account the devastating effect the crime has had on the 24-year-old. He said it was clear it had an adverse impact on her career and future aspirations.
He then jailed Hearne for 12 years – a sentence that was greeted with applause from the public gallery.Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
Dominique Meehan spoke to the media afterwards:
