AN IRISHMAN who raped an elderly pensioner twice after breaking into her home has lost an appeal against the severity of his 13-year prison sentence.
Anthony Hussey, 27, known as 'Anto' in his hometown of Ardshillane, Sneem in Co. Kerry, broke into the 73-year-old woman’s home in the early hours of September 20, 2014 after a night drinking at a local bar where he worked.
Hussey, who had no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to rape and was jailed for 13 years with five years post-release supervision on July 25, 2016.
The Kerry man's trial heard how he entered the victim's bedroom dressed in a balaclava and dark clothing before viciously raping and anally raping her.
Afterwards he told her: "You enjoyed that, didn't you?" - before covering her with a duvet and fleeing her home.
'Phantom out of the darkness'
In a victim impact statement at the time, the woman said she had been left "broken, terrorised, waiting for my death".
She added: "I can't stop screaming inside. My heart is bleeding with shock. I feel ripped open, stood naked to the core of my being, reduced to nothing.
"This phantom out of the darkness, standing in front of me, demanding sex. I had no option but to fight.
"I was too weak or clumsy to defend myself, which seemed to amuse him. He started mocking me.
"How can he behave with such brutality? A woman three times his age."
Hussey, who won €31,600 on RTÉ's Winning Streak game show in 2012, lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence at the Court of Appeal on Monday.
His barrister, Michael Bowman SC, argued that sentences of around 13 years were usually applied to repeat sexual offenders, reports RTÉ News.
But the three-judge panel dismissed the claim, finding that the sentence was appropriate given the horrific nature of the offence.
Hussey was in court for the hearing and made no reaction to the judgement.
