A MARRIED father of four convicted of raping a man twice had his sentence adjourned.
Thomas ‘Tossy’ Nyhan, (64), of Crookstown, County Cork, was found guilty by a jury following an 11-day trial at the Central Criminal Court held in Limerick in May.
The victim gave evidence at Mr Nyhan’s trial that the graphic rapes felt like “barbed wire” inside him.
Nyhan denied two counts of anal rape at a location in Limerick, one in January 2011 and one in April 2019.
When questioned in May 2019 about the rapes by Gardaí, Nyhan accepted some sexual activity had occurred between him and the victim, but he denied raping the man, the court heard.
The rape allegations surfaced when the victim told his GP following the second rape.
During the trial, and while under cross examination by Nyhan’s barrister, senior counsel Mark Nicholas, the victim agreed that he had remained in regular contact with Nyhan following the first rape in 2011.
Nyhan claimed that the victim asked him for money for sex and that he had grabbed Nyhan’s “crotch” a number of times – which was refuted by the victim in court, describing Nyhan’s claims as “lies”.
Mr Nicholas said Nyhan claimed the victim asked him for €150 cash for sex.
He suggested the victim had been in possession of “a knife” and that as Nyhan “was afraid you’d harm yourself”, “he pretended to go along with it”.
The victim told the court these claims were “bulls**t”.
The victim told the court Nyhan threw him on the bed and, despite pleading with his attacker to “stop”, Nyhan “thrust” himself into the victim, told him he “loved” him, and raped him.
The victim said “it was like barbed wire, it was like hell, like something burning you”, breaking down in tears in the court.
Nyhan was this Monday (June 23) remanded in custody for sentencing at the Central Criminal Court when it sits in Limerick on July 21.
