The Galway man who murdered Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo has been remanded in custody pending sentence for raping a young French woman at knife point in 2007.
Gerald Barry (29 ), of Rosan Glas, Rahoon, pleaded guilty to orally and anally raping the then 21-year-old woman near a GAA pitch in Galway city on August 16, 2007. A charge of theft in relation to the victim's personal belongings was taken into account. Mr Justice Paul Carney adjourned sentencing for the rape matter to later this week at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Galway.
Barry is currently serving a life sentence imposed on him in March last by Mr Justice Barry White following his conviction by a jury of murdering Ms Riedo.
Detective Inspector Gerard Roche told Mr Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, that Barry twice forced the woman to perform oral sex on him and anally raped her three times.
The court then heard that Barry made "a deal" with the victim that if she gave him oral sex one more time he would let her go but afterwards he refused to do so and instead ordered her to take off her clothes and anally raped her twice more. Det Insp Roche said Barry threatened the woman at all times that he would kill her.
The day after the attack she attended her local hospital and was so traumatised she could not recount to staff what had happened. She had to write down "I was raped" on a piece of paper. She was initially too terrified to report the rape to the gardai because Barry had threatened to kill her if she did but she eventually made a full statement.
Det Insp Roche read from the victim impact report in which the student described Barry as "a predator". "He is not a human or a man. He is a liar, a rapist and a murderer. I beg you not to let him out because he will do it again," Det Insp Roche read.
Det Insp Roche told Mr Burns that after raping the student Barry assaulted his ex-partner at her home. She was later able to give gardai a description of what he was wearing that night, which matched that detailed by the victim and led to Barry's arrest on August 18, 2007.
Barry later refused to participate in an identity parade that day and refused to give a blood sample but allowed gardai to take a DNA sample from his mouth.
The following day he appeared at the District Court in relation to the attack on his partner. Det Insp Roche said there was a garda objection to bail but it was granted. Gardai were still investigating the rape of the French student when Barry murdered Ms Riedo. He was later charged in relation to this rape after his DNA profile matched semen found on the victim's clothing.
Det Insp Roche said Barry had a number of previous convictions apart from the murder of Ms Riedo, which included a five-year sentence for violent disorder during which a young Galway man was killed and a serious assault on an elderly man that left him blind. He had been placed on the sex offenders register in 2006 after he was jailed for six months in relation to a sexual assault.
Mr Martin Giblin SC, defending, asked Mr Justice Carney to accept that it was not an appropriate case for a life sentence considering Barry's degree of co-operation with the gardai, the fact that he gave a DNA sample and his plea of guilty.
"He deeply regrets what he has done. He has now had time to reflect on his actions and the impact he has had on his victims," Mr Giblin said before he added that both drug and alcohol abuse had played a significant role in his client's criminal background.
