Four convicted of sexual offences against 17-year-old girl

Four men have been convicted of a number of sexual offences against a 17-year-old girl in the Republic of Ireland in December 2016.

A fifth man had earlier pleaded guilty to rape.

The judge said the victim, who is now in her 20s, was a "very brave young woman" who gave evidence during the trial.

The rape and assaults happened near Kilbeggan in County Meath and Tullamore in County Offaly after a night out.

Three of the men were found guilty of raping her. Two were convicted of falsely imprisoning her in a car.

Marcus De Silva Umbelino, 22, of Block C Riverview, Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting the girl.

He was found not guilty of falsely imprisoning her.

Eduardo Dias Ferreiera Filho, 24, of Block D Riverview, Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, was convicted of oral rape, and of sexually assaulting and falsely imprisoning the girl.

Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha, 24, of Mount Armstrong, Rahan, Tullamore, County Offaly, was convicted of raping her at two different locations as well as sexually assaulting her and falsely imprisoning her.

Ethan Nikolaou, 23, of Brosna Park, Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault.

Conor Byrne, 24, of Ballybeg, Moate, County Westmeath, had already pleaded guilty to a charge of rape.

The four men will be sentenced at the end of next month when the victim impact evidence will also be heard.

The judge said she had been impressed with the victim's "absolute dignity" during the trial, RTÉ reports.

She told Central Criminal Court she had been out with friends in Tullamore on 26 December 2016 and got a lift with the men.

During this journey, the girl was sexually assaulted by a number of men.

She described feeling "suffocated" and feeling like she was "teleported" between the front and the back of the car as the sexual assaults continued.

The court heard the then 17-year-old had been driven to the Harbour Road, Kilbeggan, and two of the defendants and another man then raped her one after another.

When the third man got into the car, she said she told him to stop but he would not.

She said she felt "paralysed, like my body and mind went into autopilot and I froze up... I was going nowhere, I was in a car".

The car was then driven back into Tullamore and parked at the Whitehall car park.

She said two of the occupants were dropped off at a housing estate and she was driven back to a car park where she was further assaulted.

"I was upset and I was counting down the time until I could get out of there, it was a nightmare," she said.

She said she was allowed to go when one of the men stopped holding onto her.

During cross-examination she said nothing was consensual about what happened that night.

The jurors have been exempted from further jury service for the rest of their lives.