A MAN ORIGINALLY from Blanchardstown has been jailed for life in England for raping a woman in front of her child and for the attempted rape and assault of another.
Trevor Lawlor (33), with an address at Tetlow street, Manchester, pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court on multiple counts of sexual assault, assault, rape and trespass.
He was sentenced to life in prison yesterday, with a minimum tariff of 10 years before which he cannot be considered for parole.
Multiple attacks
Lawlor attacked two women in the space of three hours on the night of 10 July 2015.
At 4.40am, he forced his way into a home in Newton Heath in the east of the city and entered the bedroom of a 25-year-old woman as she slept in her bed with her young son.
He undressed and got into the bed next to the victim before he assaulted her and tried to rape her.
He also threatened to slit her throat if she didn’t stop her young son crying.
However, the victim’s boyfriend returned home at that time and managed to chase Lawlor away.
Just after 7am, Lawlor knocked on the door of a home in Failsworth in northeast Manchester.
He told the woman (34) who answered the door that he had been locked out of his home address and she invited him in.
He then attacked the woman, whose young son was with her – bear-hugging her and pushing her against the wall.
The woman managed to get free and ran to her bedroom, but Lawlor broke in, punched her several times in the face and raped her in front of her son.
He told the victim: ‘If you don’t stop screaming I’ll kill you stone dead’.
He then fled from the home. A manhunt was launched by Greater Manchester Police and Lawlor was arrested later that day.
‘Vile and reprehensible’
An officer involved in the case, Detective Constable Steve Darragh, said that Lawlor was “vile and reprehensible” and an “incredibly dangerous individual”.
“Lawlor is without doubt one of the most vile and reprehensible human beings I have ever investigated,” he said.
To attack not one, but two, women in their own homes and worse still in front of their young children, is utterly repulsive and worthy of this life sentence.Had the first victim’s boyfriend not returned when he did, I have no doubt that Lawlor would have committed two rapes that morning.
Darragh said that the sentence would not reverse the “hugely damaging impact” Lawlor’s attacks had on his victims’ children, but that hopefully it “would save further women from becoming victims”.
He is an incredibly dangerous individual and our city is a safer place with him safely locked behind bars.
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