TWO depraved rapists who raped a woman with a rope tied around her neck are back on the streets, the Irish Sun can reveal.

And Gardai are now on high alert after receiving information that John Connors has been calling to homes in the Durrow area of Co Laois in recent weeks.

3 Patrick Moorehouse, pictured in 2009, is out of jail Credit: Courtpix

3 John Connors, pictured in 2009, was described as 'unstable' by prison bosses Credit: Courtpix

Connors — who identified his victim after calling to her home by offering to sell goods — and his pal Patrick Moorehouse, both from Enniscorthy, raped the woman as her child was in another room, on August 31, 2006.

The pair were both released in June after serving a ten year sentence. Now that they are back on the streets, they will be under supervision by the Probation Service for the next ten years.

But Gardai are now concerned at Connors’ ability to roam around the Irish countryside.

A warning, including details of the cars Connors has access to, has now been issued urging Gardai to be aware of his movements as he could strike again.

A source said: “It’s concerning that Connors is back calling to people’s homes offering to sell them goods.

“This is what he was doing when he attacked his poor victim.

“He’s a very dangerous individual and that’s why he will be monitored because of the strict conditions surrounding his release.

“Connors was very close to Moorehouse but they seemed to have gone their separate ways now that they’ve both been freed.

“The pair have told Gardai where they will be staying and the hope is that they will be afraid to engage other attacks because they both found prison very hard.”

REFUSED TO 'ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY'

During the ten years he spent in jail, prison bosses described Connors as “unstable” and said he refused to “accept responsibility” for the brutal rape of the innocent woman.

The monster — who maintained that he had consent for sex with his victim despite the evidence stacked against him — has returned to his home in Enniscorthy in Co Wexford.

Moorehouse has also returned to Co Wexford but has been keeping a low profile in recent weeks.

A prison source added: “Connors and Moorehouse have always maintained the sex was consensual and maintained this stance throughout their entire prison sentences.

“They were telling other inmates they were looking forward to their freedom and were determined to stay out of trouble.”

During the pair’s trial, the jury of seven men and five women unanimously found them guilty of raping the victim after they had both pleaded not guilty.

'NO LIMITS TO DEPRAVITY'

After jailing the duo for 14 years in 2009, Mr Justice George Bermingham said there were “no limits to depravity” and branded the offence “really most shocking”.

The senior judge said: “I have looked for mitigation and have found it hard to find any.

“There were no guilty pleas and no expression of remorse or contrition and I’m bound by the jury verdict in pronouncing sentence.” In her victim impact statement, the woman described the shocking attack as “the worst day of my life”.

She said she did not know if they were going to strangle her with the rope and could not understand why they used it when she was not putting up a fight.

She said: “There were two men with a rope around my neck and I didn’t know if I was ever going to make it out of that room alive.

“Part of me thought I was going to die and just be left there.

“I was raped by two men and they were disgusting. As I could not fight them, I could only lie there and pray it would be over soon.

“It felt like forever and I kept closing my eyes, hoping it wasn’t real. It was one of the worst examples of human nature”.

The victim also said she never went back to live in that apartment and this had caused her a lot a problems.

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Her confidence and trust in people had suffered and she still had nightmares about what they did to her.

She added: “None of the physical pain I suffered was as bad as the pain I felt inside.”

The pair also lost an appeal in 2011 against the 14-year sentences they received.