“They behaved like animals”
Five men who gang-raped a 17-year-old girl have been jailed for a total of 66 years.
The victim was raped in a car in the Midlands in 2016.
The men were aged between 17 and 19 at the time of the attack.
Justice Tara Burns said they “behaved like animals”.
On the night of the attack, the victim was out with friends in Tullamore, Co. Offaly.
She was separated from her friends at the end of the night but heard someone calling her name from a car.
The young woman presumed it was her friends so she got into the car. She thought they had come to pick her up, but it was the group of men.
The victim said she still feels “stupid”, but Judge Burns stressed that she was not at fault.
“It was reasonable for her to assume that boys her own age from the local area would get her home safely.”
None of the attackers knew the girl, but one recognised her from social media.
She realised she didn’t know the group and asked them to drop her home.
However, they ignored her and drove to a remote location.
Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha, Marcos Vinicius De Silva Umbelino, and Conor Byrne raped the young woman one after another.
Ethan Nikolaou then sexually assaulted her.
They later stopped in a car park and stopped her from leaving the car.
Eduardo Dias Ferreira Filho orally raped her. Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha also raped her for a second time.
Umbelino was sentenced to 15 years and Ferreira Filho was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Da Rocha received 20 years for raping the victim twice.
Nikolaou received a 7-year sentence.
Byrne was sentenced to 12 years, with the final 2 years suspended because he pleaded guilty to rape.
