A man who was twice raped by a man he had known for many years has stated that there are “not words strong enough to capture the pain” he has suffered.
Thomas “Tossy” Nyhan (60) from Crookstown, Co Cork, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Limerick last May. He had pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape of the man in January 2011 and April 2019.
Nyhan is a married farmer who has four children. He has no previous convictions.
The victim, whose victim impact statement was read into the record by Fionnuala O’Sullivan SC, prosecuting, said that he would try to find the right words to help Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring understand the impact the rape had on him.
“He raped me twice,” the man said “This was not a moment of confusion. It was cold, calculated and violent – he knew what he was doing – and eight years later he did it again”.
“This is what he chose. This is who he is. I trusted him and told him about my trauma and vulnerabilities and he controlled, degraded and violated me in the most horrific way,” he continued.
The man said that Nyhan spoke of his children during the incident which he said he found to be “twisted and inhumane”.
He said he disclosed the second rape to his GP, because “I could not hold the weight of his abuse any longer”. He later told gardaí about the earlier incident of rape.
The man said he feels like he is being watched. “I am trapped,” he said, before he went on to describe feeling “constantly sick with anxiety”.
He said he is “a ghost of the man he used to be”.
“I am broken, alone. I have no one, because my barriers are always up.”
“He is a rapist and that will follow him for the rest of his life and it should,” the man continued.
He then spoke to other victims of abuse and those who feel they are silenced. “Please hear this – standing up and speaking out is one of the most hardest things but it is powerful and lifechanging,” he said, before he encouraged those similarly affected by such crimes to seek help.
The man asked Ms Justice Ring to impose a sentence that reflected the impact of rape – “Let it say this matters – we matter. Please show what I lost matters. What he did matters.”
He concluded his victim impact statement by acknowledging the people who assisted him – the gardaí, his GP, the Rape Crisis Centre, a support worker and the legal team for the prosecution.
The man thanked the jury “for listening and for believing me – that has meant more to me than you will ever know”.
Ms Justice Ring told the man that it was a very important decision she has to make.
She congratulated him on his victim impact statement, describing it as a “powerful piece of work”.
“I want to think about what you said. You are carrying a burden. At this stage that burden passes to me and I have to come up with a sentence that is right for you, right for the accused and right for the community,” Ms Justice Ring said.
She revoked Nyhan’s bail and remanded him in custody, adjourning the imposition of sentence to July 21 next, when Ms Justice Ring said she expects she will be sitting in Limerick again.
Garda Lisa O’Connor told Ms O’Sullivan that Nyhan raped the man at the victim’s home after they had been out at a restaurant and had visited friends together.
He told the man he had to do his exercise, to combat a circulation issue he had before he lay on the man’s bed with his legs up against the wall.
He then told the man, “I have to get something before I go home” before he took down the victim’s pants and attempted to rape him. He told the man to relax and later lay him down on a pillow before he raped him.
Nyhan said he would pay before he placed €150 on the radiator.
The victim told his GP a few days later and the GP arranged for a garda to come to the clinic the following day to take a statement of complaint from the man. He then also disclosed the rape in January 2011.
He said on that occasion Nyhan told him he was unable to have sex with his wife before he pushed the man on to the bed and raped him.
Nyhan was arrested in July 2020 and interviewed. He claimed that he had not had sex with the man the previous April, but acknowledged there may have been some consensual sexual activity. He denied that anything had happened in January 2011.
Mark Nicholas SC, defending, said that his client still maintains his innocence and said that there was significant publicity surrounding the case following his conviction earlier this year.
He said his client had worked hard as a farmer for most of his life and had provided for others through this work.
