A 36-year old woman has told a court of the toll the sexual abuse perpetrated on her by ’sexual predator’ and Ennis taxi driver, Tom Daly has had on her.
At Ennis Circuit Court on Tuesday, the school teacher said that Tom Daly’s ‘sick sexual needs’ resulted in her parents “losing their little girl at a very young age and not knowing why for many years”.
The woman was giving a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing after a trial jury in June found Mr Daly (56) of Abbeyville, Clare Road, Ennis, guilty on nine counts of sexual assault.
The assaults took place when the female was aged 14 to 17 between 1996 and 1999.
Mr Daly had been on bail since the jury verdict but is now behind bars after Judge Gerald Keys on Tuesday remanded the married father of two in custody for sentence to October.
After the verdict in June, Judge Keys ordered Mr Daly to cease his work as a taxi-driver – Mr Daly had worked as a taxi driver in Ennis since 2005.
In court on Tuesday, the victim hit out at Mr Daly’s absence of remorse over his offences and Mr Daly’s counsel, Brian McInerney BL said that he was constrained in what he could say on behalf of his client in mitigation.
Mr McInerney explained: “My instructions are they while Mr Daly acknowledges that he is bound by the verdict of the jury, he does not accept the verdict of the jury and continues to assert his innocence.”
In her victim impact statement, the woman told the court that her “life was interrupted by a sick predator”.
She said: “I will forever feel shame for what that this man did to my body and my mind and as a result, the world remains quite lonely.”
She said: “It has taken years and years of therapy for me to work through those toxic years and for my parents, it has been completely devastating.”
She said: “To this day, my parents still feel a sense of responsibility for Tom Daly’s despicable actions and I am left with a feeling of guilt for the pain they have been put through. This is part of the life sentence for both my parents and I.”
She said: “Tom Daly turned my view of the world into one of shame, self hatred and complete lack of trust in men. I battled with an eating disorder for well over 15 years and as a way to avoid my complete self hatred sought to avoid myself through substance abuse on top of that.”
“I have battled with depression for many years and during those times have felt suicidal more than once.”
The woman said that she is “crippled with fear because of Tom Daly”.
The woman said that the financial cost of 15 years of therapy sessions and one month stay in rehab for substance abuse is €20,000.
In court on Tuesday, Garda Colin Egan said that Mr Daly had abused the then teenager at Daly’s former homes in Connolly and Ennis and at his mobile home.
As part of the abuse, Mr Daly groped the teenager and performed oral sex on her without her consent.
The jury heard some of the assaults were carried out while Mr Daly’s family were present in the house.
Tom Daly was arrested and interviewed by Sgt Sandra Heelan and Garda Egan at Ennis Garda Station on September 16th, 2015.
Over the course of three interviews he repeatedly denied the allegations of abuse, comparing them at one stage to being like something from “50 Shades of Grey.”
In reply to one section of the victim’s garda statement, Mr Daly said, “I would never behave in unmannerly fashion like that with my wife let alone a child.”
