Ireland Case No. 22297Rape · Co. Meath · 11 Feb 2007
Cavan man jailed for six years for raping acquaintance in 2007
Paul Clarke, 40, of Muff, Kingscourt, Cavan, was sentenced to six years' imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court for raping a 22-year-old woman while she slept at a friend's house in Meath on 11 February 2007. He was convicted by a jury at a second trial after the first jury was unable to agree on a verdict.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrestednot reported
- Chargednot reported
- In courtnot reported
- Verdictnot reported
- Sentenced20 Feb
5 reports
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports75 statements extracted from the articles
- whatThe woman was fully clothed when she got into the bed, but awoke to find Clarke raping her with her shorts, underwear and tights wrapped together and discarded by the bed. (thejournal.ie)
- whatThe woman told Clarke to stop and he did. (thejournal.ie, rte.ie, leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe woman found Clarke asleep in the sofa bed she normally slept in, got into bed fully clothed, and awoke to find him raping her, naked from the waist down. (thejournal.ie)
- whatPaul Clarke, aged 40, of Muff, Kingscourt, Cavan, was convicted of raping a 22-year-old woman while she slept. (rte.ie)
- whatThe woman got into the bed beside Clarke fully clothed and awoke to find him raping her. (rte.ie)
- whatThe woman went to gardaí in 2017 after years of trying to suppress what had happened. (rte.ie)
- whatClarke claimed the woman was making up the allegation because she was looking for money after learning he had received an inheritance. (rte.ie, longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman's shorts, underwear and tights were wrapped together and discarded by the bed. (rte.ie)
- whatThe woman later developed patterns of emotional eating and suffered from anxiety. (rte.ie, irishtimes.com)
- whatThe woman was prescribed medication and attended for counselling. (rte.ie)
- whatThe woman stated she was looking for acknowledgement, an explanation and a sincere apology from Clarke. (rte.ie)
- whatThere had been consensual kissing earlier in the night, after which the woman indicated she was not interested in anything further. (rte.ie, irishtimes.com)
- whatClarke has issues with his memory following a serious car accident in 2002. (rte.ie)
- whatPaul Clarke was convicted by a jury of raping a woman in Meath. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe victim was 22 years old at the time of the offence. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatClarke was 24 years old at the time of the offence. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe woman got into the bed fully clothed beside Clarke and later woke to find him raping her. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe woman was naked from the waist down when she woke. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatHer shorts, underwear and tights were wrapped together and discarded by the bed. (leitrimobserver.ie, irishtimes.com)
- whatClarke left the house shortly afterwards. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatClarke claimed the woman was making up the allegation because she was looking for money after he received an inheritance. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe woman developed patterns of emotional eating and suffered from anxiety after the rape. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatClarke suffered a serious car accident affecting his memory. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatDefence counsel stated Clarke suffered a road traffic accident in 2001 resulting in memory difficulty. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatThe woman was socialising with her friend at a nightclub when Clarke joined them. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- whatPaul Clarke, 40, is from Muff, Kingscourt, Cavan (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman was 22 years old at the time of the incident (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman was asleep in her friend's house when the rape occurred (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman got into the bed beside Clarke fully clothed (longfordleader.ie)
- whatClarke denied the charge of rape (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman reported the incident to gardaí in 2017 (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman developed patterns of emotional eating and suffered from anxiety (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman was prescribed medication and attended counselling (longfordleader.ie)
- whatThe woman was happy for Clarke to be named but wanted to retain her anonymity (longfordleader.ie)
- whatShe told Clarke to stop and he did. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe woman found Clarke asleep in the sofa bed she normally slept in and got into bed fully clothed. (irishtimes.com)
- whatShe awoke to find the man raping her and was naked from the waist down. (irishtimes.com)
- whereThe rape took place at a friend's house in County Meath. (rte.ie)
- whereThe incident took place after a night out in Meath (longfordleader.ie)
- whereClarke is from Muff, Kingscourt, Cavan. (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe rape occurred after a night out in Meath on 11 February 2007. (thejournal.ie)
- whenOn the night of the incident, Clarke was aged 24 and the woman was socialising with her friend at a nightclub. (thejournal.ie)
- whenThe incident occurred on 11 February 2007. (rte.ie)
- whenThe trial that led to conviction took place in October 2022. (rte.ie)
- whenThe rape occurred on 11 February 2007. (leitrimobserver.ie, longfordleader.ie)
- whenThe rape occurred on 11 February 2007 after a night out in Meath. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe woman reported the rape to gardaí in 2017. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- courtHe was convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court. (thejournal.ie, longfordleader.ie, irishtimes.com)
- courtIt was the second trial; the first jury was unable to agree on a verdict. (thejournal.ie)
- courtThe prosecuting solicitor was Edward Doocey. (thejournal.ie)
- courtDefence barrister Éanna Mulloy said he did not wish to cross-examine the complainant on the social media issue. (thejournal.ie)
- courtThe judge cleared the court of all but one family member before the hearing. (thejournal.ie)
- courtIt was the second trial after the first jury was unable to agree on a verdict. (rte.ie, leitrimobserver.ie, irishtimes.com)
- courtThe judge read 15 character references and a psychologist's report as part of the defence material. (rte.ie)
- courtThe trial took place in October 2022. (leitrimobserver.ie, longfordleader.ie)
- courtThis was the second trial after the first jury was unable to agree on a verdict (longfordleader.ie)
- courtEdward Doocey BL was prosecuting (longfordleader.ie)
- sentencePaul Clarke was jailed for six years for rape. (thejournal.ie, irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe judge set a headline sentence of seven-and-a-half years which she reduced to six years. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceEighteen months post-release supervision was applied and the sentence was backdated to when Clarke first went into custody in December. (thejournal.ie)
- sentenceThe judge set a headline sentence of seven and a half years, reduced to six years after considering mitigating factors. (rte.ie)
- sentenceEighteen months' post-release supervision was applied. (rte.ie, irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe sentence was backdated to when Clarke first went into custody in December 2022. (rte.ie, longfordleader.ie, irishtimes.com)
- sentenceClarke was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, reduced from a headline of seven and a half years. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- sentenceEighteen months of post-release supervision was applied. (leitrimobserver.ie, longfordleader.ie)
- sentenceThe sentence was backdated to when Clarke first went into custody in December. (leitrimobserver.ie)
- sentenceHe was sentenced to six years' imprisonment (longfordleader.ie)
- sentenceThe headline sentence was seven and a half years, reduced to six years (longfordleader.ie)
- sentenceThe judge set a headline sentence of seven and a half years, reduced to six years. (irishtimes.com)
- otherHe claimed the woman was making up the allegation because she was looking for money after learning he had received an inheritance. (thejournal.ie, irishtimes.com)
- otherShe spent years trying to suppress what had happened before receiving counselling and going to gardaí in 2017. (thejournal.ie, irishtimes.com)
- otherThere had been consensual kissing between the pair earlier in the night, but the woman indicated she was not interested in anything further. (thejournal.ie)
- otherThe day after Clarke was interviewed by Gardaí, his defence solicitor started following the woman on social media. (thejournal.ie)
- otherThe woman approves of Clarke being named so long as it does not lead to her identification. (rte.ie)
- otherClarke was aged 24 at the time of the incident. (irishtimes.com)
The reporting
newest first- 20 Feb2023Cavan man who raped acquaintance 15 years ago while she slept jailed for six years
Reports the sentencing of Paul Clarke to six years' imprisonment (reduced from a headline of seven and a half years) for a 2007 rape, with 18 months' post-release supervision and the sentence backdated to December 2022.
victim, 22, femaleconvicted, Paul Clarke, 40, male, named, irish (judged from name)Paul Clarke - 20 Feb2023Cavan man jailed for raping woman over 15 years ago
Reports the conviction and sentencing of Paul Clarke for a 2007 rape, including details of the second trial, the victim's impact statement, and the judge's reasoning for reducing the headline sentence.
victim, 22, femaleconvicted, Paul Clarke, 40, male, named, irish (judged from name)Paul Clarke - 20 Feb2023Cavan man jailed for raping a woman in Meath over 15 years ago
Reports the sentencing of Paul Clarke to six years (reduced from a headline of seven and a half years) for a 2007 rape in Meath, including the victim's impact statement, defence arguments, and the judge's remarks.
victim, 22, femaleconvicted, Paul Clarke, 40, male, named, irish (judged from name)Paul Clarke - 20 Feb2023Man jailed for six years over rape of sleeping woman
Provides full detail of the sentencing hearing: the judge's remarks on the victim impact, the defence's money-motivation claim, the consensual kissing, Clarke's memory issues from a 2002 car accident, the headline sentence of 7.5 years reduced to six, 18 months post-release supervision, and backdating to December 2022.
victim, 22, femaleconvicted, Paul Clarke, 40, male, named, irish (judged from name)Paul Clarke - 20 Feb2023Man (40) jailed for raping acquaintance while she slept after night out
Full sentencing details: judge Karen O'Connor reduced a headline sentence of 7.5 years to 6 years, applied 18 months post-release supervision, and backdated the sentence to December 2022. The article includes the victim impact statement, the defence's social media issue, the judge's remarks on the money-motivation claim, and details of the incident as outlined by a local garda sergeant.
victim, 22, femaleconvicted, Paul Clarke, 40, male, named, irish (judged from name)Paul Clarke