A MAN WHO sexually abused five of his children, who were locked in a room for days at a time without food and forced to drink urine, has been jailed for 20 years.

Noel Farrell (70) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to a number of sample counts of sexual abuse against his four daughters and one son at various addresses in Co. Sligo over two decades.

Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said this was a case he suspected would stand out in his memory “for all the wrong reasons” including the extreme cruelty and gravity of the offending.

“It is truly shocking,” he said.

“One runs out of words in trying to describe the depths plumbed in this particular case. I say this as a way of trying to illustrate how extreme and awful the nature of the facts in this case are.”

He said the complainants were dealt a terrible hand in life and were exposed to a “grotesque breach of parental trust”. He said they had shown an extraordinary degree of fortitude and courage in how they faced up to their lives.

Noting the lack of mitigating factors in the case, save for the guilty plea, Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 30 years, which he reduced to 20 years.

He said there was no need to impose a post-release supervision order, because if Farrell “does emerge from a custodial sentence”, he will be extremely elderly.

Farrell, of Rathedmond Estate, Sligo, Co. Sligo, made no visible reaction as the sentence was handed down, while the complainants in the case embraced each other.

The court heard that four of the five children wished to waive their right to anonymity so Farrell could be identified in reporting and that the fifth did not wish to be named herself but wished for Farrell to be named.

In victim impact statements, the five siblings spoke of the effects of the abuse on their mental health, relationships and lives.

Some of the victims also spoke about developing addiction issues and the impact of being placed into care.