Wedding guest assaulted sleeping woman in her bed

Jamie McLoughlin, a senior software engineer of Moylena Grove, Antrim, had drunk 15 pints of beer and a variety of other alcoholic beverages before he molested the woman in a holiday chalet at the Fermanagh venue in October last year.

His victim, who cannot be named to protect her identity, had been asleep in her bed after leaving the wedding reception. Waking up to find the defendant in bed with her, she initially believed that it was her husband – but was left traumatised when she realised what was really happening.

McLoughlin, who was arrested as he left the hotel on the night of the incident, entered guilty pleas to two counts of sexual assault by penetration when he appeared before the Crown Court in June of this year. His case had been adjourned to allow for the preparation of a pre-sentence report and victim impact statements.

Appearing in the dock at Dungannon Crown Court for his sentencing on Tuesday afternoon, the defendant was also informed by Judge Melody McReynolds that he was being placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Prosecuting counsel, Simon Reid, had earlier told the court that both the defendant and the injured party had been guests at a wedding reception held in a Fermanagh hotel.

The barrister said the woman had taken a “small amount” of alcohol and became aware of the defendant, whom she found “annoying”. She later left the reception and returned to her accommodation with two friends.

Leaving her friends downstairs, the woman went up to the bathroom and got undressed down to her underwear. She then went to her bed and fell asleep.

When she woke up, she assumed it was her husband in the bed with her. However, she quickly realised that it was another man and began to scream.

Mr Reid said that the injured party then admits to some confusion over the exact sequence of subsequent events, describing it as “all a blur what happened next”.

The defendant was then ejected from the accommodation by other guests. He was apprehended by the police as he was walking up the hotel’s driveway.

When he was interviewed on the following morning, McLoughlin told police that he had no memory of the events. However, he also said that, in his view, it must have happened, adding: “Why would she make this up?” Forensic evidence obtained by tests carried out on the victim confirmed there had been contact by the defendant’s fingernails. The court also heard that the woman only found out she was pregnant with her first child with her husband during these forensic tests.

Describing this as an aggravating feature in the case, the prosecuting barrister said that it had been a “rather shocking” way to discover that she was pregnant.

Mr Reid also told the court that the victim had suffered from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder, but added that this had resolved after about a month.

Meanwhile, defending counsel, Mr Thompson, conceded that his client had committed an “extremely serious” offence and described the incident as “horrible”.

The barrister said that, on the night in question, McLoughlin did not know anyone else at the wedding reception and felt like a “fish out of water”. This had caused him to drink to excess, “well outside his capability”.

He argued that his client had not sought out his victim with a predatory instinct or acted in a sinister way, prompting Judge McReynolds to observe that the offence had been “very opportunistic”.

Mr Thompson said: “This is a man drunk beyond all recognition doing something extremely stupid he was always going to get caught for.” The barrister said that the defendant, whom he described as “comatose drunk”, had let himself down and “behaved in a way which he would condemn”. He added that McLoughlin had displayed victim awareness “above and beyond what you would normally see”.

The defendant saw that he had not only victimised the woman, but also her husband, who had been asleep on the sofa downstairs at the time of the assault.

In mitigation, the barrister handed in a series of references on behalf of his client, submitted by family members, a former girlfriend and a parish priest. He told the court that, due to this “completely out-of-character aberration”, the defendant had not only ruined his own life, but also the lives of the family members who were dealing with this along with him.

Asking the judge to exercise a leniency that would not involve an immediate custodial sentence, the defence counsel said that a prison term would be a disaster for his client, who would struggle to cope.

In passing sentence, Judge McReynolds took into account that the ‘socially nervous’ defendant had drunk a “vast amount” on the night in question, and had been described by other guests as “somewhat irritating”.

The judge said that McLoughlin had drunk 15 pints of beer, several bottles of beer, champagne, wine and gin during the course of the wedding celebrations – and had taken tequila when he arrived at the accommodation for a party.

Believing that he had been “informally invited” to use the bed, the judge said that McLoughlin further believed that he was in the bed with a girl who liked him. She said this was an aberration representative of an “illogical, drunken” thought process.

Giving credit for his absolutely clear record, the judge said that a number of “very powerful” references had been submitted on his behalf. After reading the reference from his former girlfriend, Judge McReynolds said that while the defendant was “not entirely mature”, he was extremely kind and respectful.

She also took into account the defendant’s considerable victim empathy and low likelihood of re-offending.

However, looking at the impact the assault has had on the victim, the judge said she had suffered from an “acute stress disorder” and had been plagued by “nightmares and a feeling of being dirty”. She added that the injured party’s feeling of security had undoubtedly been impacted.

Ruling that the threshold for immediate custody had been passed, Judge McReynolds said that considerable assistance would be required to rehabilitate the defendant within the community.

Imposing a 14-month custodial term, with a further 14 months on licence, the judge also directed McLoughlin to actively participate in any programme of work as recommended by the Probation Board.

While Judge McReynolds said that it was not a case where it was appropriate to make a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), she added that the defendant would be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The judge also said that McLoughlin would not be included on any lists in respect of children.

“It should be noted that it is not the view of the court that there is anything in this offending that should inhibit your involvement with children,” she added.