A WICKLOW MAN who recorded videos of himself sexually assaulting a sleeping woman has been jailed for seven years.

Philip Dignam (41) recorded eight videos depicting various acts of sexual assault on the woman while she was asleep or unconscious.

Details of the video and Dignam’s comments during the assaults were provided to Justice Paul Burns during a sentence hearing at the Central Criminal Court.

Dignam of Lacken, Blessington, Wicklow, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting Kathleen Morris on dates unknown in 2020. The case had gone for trial four times with delays mainly relating to the providence of the video evidence.

Garda Jessica Hargadon told prosecuting counsel Anne-Marie Lawlor SC that Ms Morris and Dignam were in a consensual sexual relationship and would meet from time to time at hotel rooms around the city.

Dignam carried out the assaults while she slept and sent the videos to a phone handset previously used by the victim. Gda Hargadon said that the victim only became aware of the sexual assaults in 2022 when her then-partner had cause to use this handset and found the videos.

Justice Burns said Ms Morris had decided to end the relationship she had with Dignam but it did not end amicably and as the judge said “he was not prepared for it to end”.

Justice Burns said it was clear from the recordings that Ms Morris was asleep at the time and that Dignam committed these offences for his “own sexual gratification”.

He acknowledged the impact the offences had on Ms Morris and said that her victim impact statement showed that she was “extremely stressed” in the hearings that occurred before the trial as she feared she would run into Dignam when he was on bail.

Mr Justice Burns noted that Dignam told gardaí during interview that Ms Morris had consented and that he had filmed her pretending to be asleep “by way of role playing”.

He took into account that Dignam had a conviction for possession of child abuse sexual material and had been given a one-year suspended sentence for that offence.

Mr Justice Burns said Dignam had “gone beyond what had been consented to” and had committed violations when the woman was not conscious.

“It is remarkable that he does not seem to appreciate how utterly wrong his actions were,” Mr Justice Burns said.

“His actions were a grievous breach of trust that a sexual partner should be allowed to have in her partner,” he continued.

He said the fact that Ms Morris is still waiting for therapy means that she “may not be in a position to fully articulate the impact on her”.

Mr Justice Burns said the case warranted a headline sentence of nine years. He took into account Dignam’s cooperation with the garda investigation and accepted that while it was a late plea it was of “some value” and spared Ms Morris the trauma of having to give evidence at trial.

Mr Justice Burns imposed a sentence of eight years in prison. He suspended the final year on strict conditions including that Dignam engage with the Probation Service for three years upon his release from prison.

Ms Morris indicated that she wished to waive her anonymity to allow Dignam to be named in reporting of the case. She said she hopes that by doing so it may encourage others to come forward.

In garda interviews Dignam told investigators that the woman had told him she had a fantasy about “sleep sex” and that she was pretending to be asleep as a role play. He said the fantasy was her idea and that she was giving effect to her fantasies by pretending to be asleep.

Gda Hargadon told the court that the woman can be heard snoring in one of the videos. She said in one video the defendant slaps the bottom of the woman and “she doesn’t move, she is evidently unconscious”.

She said in all the videos the woman is in a prone position and appears to be either unconscious or asleep.

The man also told gardaí that he didn’t check if she was awake but that he didn’t spike her drink. He said he didn’t disseminate the videos but sent them to her in July 2022.

Reading from her own victim impact statement the woman told the man that she had to “psych” herself “up for court” four times and that the defendant “waited til the day I was to give evidence” to plead guilty.

“It’s not what you did to me. It’s never okay to do it to any woman what you did to me. You have physically and mentally scarred me.

“I do hope me coming forward will help other girls to come forward. I’m not your victim anymore. I’m a survivor,” she said.

The court heard the sexual relationship lasted for about six months and the woman had no knowledge of the video recordings until her later partner found them in 2022.

Dignam has a previous conviction for possession of child sex abuse material from a Portlaoise court in 2018. He was subject to the terms of the sex offenders register when he committed these sexual assaults.

Paul Murray SC, defending, told the court that his client lived in a converted attic in his parents’ home and had a “somewhat lonely existence”. He said he has worked in carpentry jobs and has a good record of employment.

He said that the trial dates were adjourned on a number of occasions as a result of both the prosecution and the defence variously “trying to dig more into where the videos came from” as gardaí never had possession of the original phone.

Gda Hargodan agreed with counsel’s submission that “nobody is able to say how precisely they (videos) got from one phone to another”.

Mr Murray said in light of this “very messy phone evidence” the guilty pleas were of “considerable benefit” to the prosecution. Counsel said his client wished now to offer a sincere apology to the woman and expresses his sincere remorse.