A FORMER MUSICIAN has been jailed for five years for the rape of a woman in her home almost four years ago.

At the Central Criminal Court earlier this year, Colin ‘Ollie’ Murphy (50) was convicted of one count of rape on a date in September 2020 at a house in Dublin.

Murphy, of Wyattville Park, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin, was a member of the band HamsandwicH for 15 years until 2018, the Central Criminal Court heard. He has more recently worked as a delivery driver.

The court heard the woman wished to retain her anonymity but did not object to Murphy being identified.

Murphy denied the allegations, telling gardaí initially that the sexual encounter was consensual.

However, defence senior counsel Patrick Gageby told the court at an earlier hearing that Murphy accepted the verdict of the jury and wished to apologise to the woman.

Today, Mr Justice David Keane handed Murphy a seven-year sentence with the final two years suspended on strict conditions, including that he engage with relevant services.

Mr Justice Keane said the impact of the offending on the woman and the fact that the offence took place in her home were among the aggravating features of the case.

Reading her victim impact statement at an earlier hearing, the woman said parts of her life froze during the “agonising” three-and-a-half year wait for the trial.

She described experiencing feelings of anxiety, guilt and “dark thoughts”.

She said she “grieves harshly” for the relationships and family that she might have had.

She said Murphy followed her to her bedroom, a place he had never been and had not been invited, where he raped her.

She said her sense of personal safety in the “happy house” she shared with friends was destroyed and her last weeks there became “tainted”.

She said her performance at work suffered and by Christmas 2020, she was out of work and “completely lost”.

She described the trial as “the most harrowing part” of her life, as she had to present her “most intimate life to a room of silent judging strangers” before waiting days to see if she was believed.

She said she didn’t want a trial, to see people hurt or for them to see “their son or brother like that”.

She said she couldn’t imagine seeing her brother in the dock and that she didn’t want anyone to go to prison, but it was the “only justified outcome” from the moment it had happened.

She said she carried “misplaced guilt” on her shoulders about the outcome of the trial.

“I did nothing wrong but I still have to carry this every day,” she said.

Today, Justice Keane said the victim impact statement was “powerfully effective” and described the “wide range of damaging effects” on the woman.

He noted that the woman had displayed “remarkable empathy” for Murphy’s family in her statement, which he said is the “hallmark of a remarkable person” and wished her well for the future.

Justice Keane set a headline sentence of eight years, which he reduced to seven years taking into account the mitigation and Murphy’s personal circumstances.

The judge noted that Murphy accepted the jury’s verdict and had apologised, but said his acknowledgement of guilt was offered “very late in the process”.

He cited a probation report which said Murphy initially deflected responsibility onto the victim, but since his conviction has expressed remorse and apologised.

Justice Keane noted that the report said Murphy acknowledged that his drug use had escalated and that he was part of a peer group where the use of drugs and alcohol was normalised, but was now drug-free.

The judge said Murphy had no previous convictions and had been assessed at low risk of re-offending.

The sentence was backdated to March 7 last, when Murphy went into custody.

A local garda told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, at an earlier hearing, that the woman went to bed around 4am after a party at her home.

She woke up to a man raping her. The woman didn’t say or do anything as she was tired and intoxicated, but recognised the man as Murphy, who was an acquaintance of another person at the party.

They both fell asleep and when the woman woke around 10am, Murphy was still in the bed.

He left a few minutes later. The woman messaged some people, describing what had happened.

She broke down crying and after one of her housemates came into her room, she told him what had happened.

The woman then contacted Murphy and there was an exchange between them in which he acknowledged sex had occurred and apologised for not using a condom.

Gardaí were contacted later that day and the victim was in a distressed state when they arrived. Her phone and items of clothing were seized and the scene examined.

Murphy’s home was searched by gardaí the following day, while his phone and items of clothing were seized.

He was arrested in November 2020, and made a prepared statement to gardaí in which he said any sexual contact had been consensual. He said the woman was not asleep and had actively encouraged the sexual interaction. He said the apology in his messages was for not using a condom.

Some of the people who attended the party gave evidence during the trial that there was no romantic, physical or emotional connection between the victim and Murphy.

Murphy left a cannabis herb ‘grinder’ in the bed, which the woman recalled he’d had with him at the party. Another witness said Murphy was looking for this item when he left the house the next morning.

Murphy has no previous convictions and was remanded in custody following conviction.

A local garda agreed with Mr Gageby that his client was a figure in the Irish music industry and was working in a retail shop in 2020.

Mr Gageby said his client wished to offer an apology to the woman. He outlined that Murphy has a long work history, particularly in the music sector, and more recently as a delivery driver.

He is divorced and has an adult daughter. He has been acting as a carer for his father.

His partner and a sister also gave character evidence on his behalf.

Mr Gageby noted Murphy was assessed at low risk of re-offending and was willing to engage with relevant services and programmes.