By Liam Heylin

A man has been given a two-year suspended jail term after a young woman who went to bed in the early hours of the morning after a house party woke up to find him sexually assaulting her.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin told Cork Circuit Criminal Court: "He took advantage of this girl when she was asleep.”

The guard who investigated the case said there was a victim impact statement available for the judge today. The officer said of the victim: “She is not here.

"She was not ready to be in the same room as the suspect. She did not want to see him.”

The injured party’s parents were present for the sentencing.

The incident at the centre of the case happened after a house party in County Cork in June last year.

“The injured party reported she was sexually assaulted while attending the house party in (named area). She went to bed at 3am and fell asleep in bed alongside a girl who was a friend of hers.

“She woke and her underwear and pants were pulled down and she felt a pain in her vagina,” the guard said.

Donal McCarthy, prosecution barrister, said the accused put his fingers into her vagina.

The defendant was apprehended at his home several days later and taken to the local garda station to be interviewed. On legal advice he replied, no comment, to each question that was put to him.

Mr McCarthy BL said to be fair to the accused he did admit the offence as soon as he appeared in court in relation to the matter.

Alice Fawsett, defence senior counsel, said: “He is very distressed at what he did. He has pleaded guilty to it. He was under the mistaken impression that she was awake.” Judge Ó Donnabháin did not accept this and said the accused must have known the young woman was asleep.

The judge said that the plea of guilty was particularly important and it was acknowledged by the victim in her statement that she was entirely vindicated by his public acknowledgement of being 100% responsible for sexually assaulting her.

Ms Fawsett SC said of the 24-year-old defendant: “He really, really regrets it and is very upset at the distress he caused. He really regrets what happened.

"He was at a party where a lot of drink and recreational drugs had been taken. I think there were four in the bed, one on a beanbag and it was one of these incidents that happened at the end of the night when people have had too much to drink.

"He totally misunderstood the situation. (Afterwards) he came very close to breakdown with suicidal ideation.”