PROLIFIC SEX OFFENDER ONCE TOLD BY JUDGE TO ‘GET A WIFE’ ADMITS EXPOSING HIMSELF TO NURSES
Standing in the dock of Coleraine Magistrates Court, 39-year-old Cathal Feeney entered a guilty plea to the single charge of exposure on 28 October last year.The charge details that Feeney, listed as “residing in the Belfast area,” intentionally exposed his privates “intending that someone would see them and be caused alarm or distress”.
The court heard how prison staff had escorted Feeney to the Causeway Hospital and despite repeated warnings, the defendant “continued to expose himself”.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court Feeney “was given three separate warnings to stop” but his behaviour continued and he even “appeared to be playing with himself.” “He kept complaining to nurses that he had a sore penis and for the nurses to put gel on it,” the prosecutor said, adding that Feeney was “told to do it himself”.
The convicted sex offender also asked for an suppository to be applied by nurses and the court heard that “despite warning, he continued with his behaviour”.
Defence counsel James Carson conceded that the case “absolutely” warranted a pre-sentence report before District Judge Peter King could pass sentence.
A previous case involving Feeney caused outrage three years ago after Judge Brian Sherrard told the prolific offender to “find a wife”.
His comments in October 2022 came after Feeney had admitted the sexual assault of a woman he had met through an online dating app in March 2020.
The judge, before jailing him for four-and-a-half years, had said: “You are young.
There’s nothing that will stop you moving on with your life in a productive way, finding work or finding a wife or partner, getting a family and a home.” Public outcry led Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan to announce that the judiciary would receive guidance and training.
Labelled by a police officer as “dangerous to females” at one bail hearing, Feeney has well over 60 previous convictions, including sentences for domestic abuse and assaults.
One court heard that eight women, including his own mother and grandmother, have taken non-molestation orders against him.
