A man who raped, assaulted and forcibly checked a woman over the course of a six-week relationship has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.
On several occasions, Dean Ward (36) shot Mace in the woman’s face, tied her up, strangled her and raped her, threatened her with a hammer and hit her in the face. He controlled her access to friends and family, took over her internet banking and monitored her whereabouts and her cell phone, and removed her contraceptive while she slept.
Judge Kerida Naidoo this morning suspended the last year of an 18-year prison sentence for the most serious rape offense at the Central Criminal Court. He charged a four-year-old, running concurrently, for a felony of coercive control, with a maximum sentence of five years.
Outside the court Sinéad O’Neill, of Killybegs, Co Donegal said she was speaking out to show others that support was available. She said she felt trapped in fear but received “amazing support” from the moment she asked Gardai for help.
She said she hoped her case would encourage anyone in an abusive relationship to seek help and confide in someone. She said she believed that by locking up Ward, she had saved other women from a similar ordeal.
Ward of Ballintlea, Hollyfort, Gorey, Wexford had previously been sentenced to four years in prison for wrongfully incarcerating and assaulting a young mother in November 2015. Ward and that woman had met on the internet dating website Plenty of Fish and Ward attacked her on their third date at the woman’s own home.
Garda Superintendents Karen Duffy said the crime of compulsive control is relatively new and she would encourage any women or men in abusive relationships to come to Gardai.
Victim Sinéad O’Neill, from Killybegs, Co Donegal, pictured in the photo with media outside the Dublin circuit this afternoon Pic Collins Courts
Ward, aka Dean Alexander Fowkes, used a different name when he first met his victim. He was convicted earlier this year following a trial of four charges of assault, false imprisonment, threat of death, two charges of article production, three charges of rape and coercive control on dates between June 11 and July 17, 2019.
The violations occurred over the course of a six-week period between the woman who first met the man in May 2109 and his arrest by armed gardai at her home in July 2019. Ward does not accept the jury’s verdict and continues to insist his innocence. He has been in custody since his arrest on July 17, 2019.
Justice Naidoo noted that the rapes took place in a controlling relationship and that consent was not given freely. He said the woman’s consent to sexual intercourse was secured by fear in circumstances where she was subjected to violence before the rape or fear due to the cumulative effect of Ward’s behavior over time.
Victim Sinéad O’Neill, from Killybegs, Co Donegal, pictured in the photo with media outside the Dublin circuit this afternoon Pic Collins Courts
He said the first offense of rape was compounded by violence and extreme humiliation. After an argument, Ward broke into the woman’s house, punched her in the face and said he was going to kill her.
He took her upstairs and took out a knife with which he cut a towel, then used the shreds to tie her up and began to strangle her from behind. Justice Naidoo said the woman thought she was going to die and that she lost control of her bladder. Ward knew the woman had a particular fear of drowning and said he would.
The woman’s fear of the prospect was so great that she offered to kill herself by slitting her wrists, the judge said. Ward then raped her.
Justice Naidoo has handed a capital sentence of 18 years for this crime, the most serious of all offences. He said there was virtually no easing, but he suspended a year on the condition that Ward follow parole’s instructions after his release.
He imposed lesser sentences for the other crimes, all of which had to run concurrently.