Guilty of pensioner rape

A Ballymena man is to be sentenced in January for the rape of a 74-year-old woman who was said to have begged for mercy.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Dec 2011, 11:37 BST

Barry Johnston, 26, carried out the attack in the town in August last year.

It happened two days after he was released from prison after breaching a sex offences order in relation to a previous rape conviction.

Johnston also admitted possessing drugs.

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Ballymena Crown Court heard that Johnston’s elderly victim had pleaded with him after he entered her house, saying “have mercy on me, I’m an old woman”.

Johnston told her not to report the attack, but after she confided in a neighbour the police were alerted and he was arrested on the basis of DNA evidence.

The court was told his victim was “at risk of suffering from clinical depression” and was “unlikely to get back to the person she was”.

He will be sentenced on 6 January.