The High Court in Belfast
Shaun Hegarty, 30, was originally handed a 20-year custodial term and an extended five years on licence for attacking a victim who described waking up at his flat in Derry with a rope around her neck.
In a written judgement handed down today, senior judges ruled that the period of imprisonment should be reduced by two years after identifying an omission in the trial sentencing process.
But Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stressed Hegarty, who is originally from Tyrone but was living at the time in Balliniska Heights, Derry could yet have to spend the entire period behind bars if still considered dangerous.
She said: “This is a very stiff sentence which is beyond the usual range and may be unprecedented in this jurisdiction.
“However, to our mind this length of sentence is justified in a case of high culpability and high harm with such a myriad of aggravating factors and to reflect the seriousness of this type of offending.”
Hegarty, who has a previous conviction for a rape committed 12 years ago, carried out his latest sexual assault in April 2019.
The woman was discovered by members of the public after collapsing on the city’s Northland Road, with facial injuries and her hands smeared in blood.
She recalled having been at Hegarty’s apartment and taking some drinks before passing out.
When she came round again, lying on a mattress on a concrete floor, the rope was around her neck, the court heard.
She spent a week in hospital for treatment to a traumatic brain injury and facial fractures assessed as being caused by blunt force, such as a fist.
Hegarty of Balliniska Heights, claimed the pair had engaged in consensual “rough sex”, and that she hurt herself by walking into a toilet door.
Following a trial at Derry Crown Court he was found guilty of raping, attempting to choke and intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to the woman.
Defence lawyers claimed the extended custodial term imposed was manifestly excessive.
They argued that the trial judge failed to provide a starting point or set out a proper methodology in the sentencing exercise, breaching the principle of transparency.
Dame Siobhan said that a starting point should have been set to explain a sentence apparently outside the range for aggravated rapes.
She instead imposed an aggregate extended sentence of 23 years on Hegarty, comprising an 18-year prison term and the further five years on licence.
With at least half of the custodial period to be served behind bars, he will only be released following a safety assessment.
“If the Parole Commissioners do not support release due to risk to the public the appellant may have to serve the entire 18-year custodial term in prison,” Dame Siobhan added.
“At the end of the 18-year term he remains subject to licensed supervision for the five-year extension period during which he is liable to be recalled to custody should he breach any of his licence conditions.”
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