Enniskillen man to be sentenced for historic sexual offences

David Frances Collins (80) of Kilmacormick Road, Enniskillen, is set to appear at a sitting of Dungannon Crown Court at Newry this morning. 

He is to be sentenced for four offences of indecent assault, and three offences of gross indecency involving two sisters. 

The offences occurred between March 2, 1970 and April 1, 1974.

In an earlier hearing, Collins was deemed unfit to stand trial on ten counts of abuse including indecent assault, gross indecency and attempted rape.

However, a trial of facts at Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Newry,  concluded that Collins had committed three acts of indecent assault on one sister, as well as two acts of gross indecency.

The jury also agreed that he had committed one count of indecent assault and one count of gross indecency to another sister, Maud Clarke. 

Last month, Maud waived her right to anonymity in an interview with the Impartial Reporter. 

"It’s a victory for us,” she said.

"Even if one person has the courage to come forward about sexual abuse when they read that after 56-years-later these two sisters have gotten justice, I will be happy.

Maud’s decision to speak on her trauma followed a conscious effort to address her alcohol abuse. This was triggered when her first grandchildren, which made her “look at life differently”.

“When those two (Aaron and Theo) were born in 2013, I knew I had to turn a corner,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I still have the odd drink now and again, but not the bottles of vodka I used to drown my sorrows in.

“It’s been a bumpy road and it wasn’t easy turning away. There is always that guilt about the past, but I feel my children know now the reason for my behaviour. They understand, especially now that they are older.

“I have a good family, I am really proud and appreciative of them. Joyce and I got a bad name through drinking, but there is a way of turning it around. There is the proof in my pudding.”

On the walls of the living room hang photos of her adoring family. Her grown-up children, Nigel and Estelle, pose proudly with their families.

Her six grandchildren are pictured smiling and laughing.

“They love coming here, they love spending time with their granny,” she said, proudly.

“When you look at them wee girls, sleeping in their beds, I knew how safe they were with me. I didn’t have that. I am very protective over them given what I have went through.”

Maud admits of feeling “robbed of many things” - but the joys of her family that she is proud of is not one of them.

The road to moving past decades-old sexual abuse has been long and winding. She admits that while some days are better than others, ultimately, she is in much better place these days.

And these positive feelings about the future were enhanced by the outcome of the trial, she said.

“The day we saw him (Collins) in court, it was a good feeling,” she said. “I held my head up high in court that day, while he dropped his.

“At times, it hasn’t been easy. Many a time in three years I said to my sister, the sorriest thing I have ever done was report this. At times, it was a bit overwhelming, but we got through it.

“I am especially glad for my sister, who was branded a liar all her life.

“For too long it was all brushed under the carpet, and it was never talked about again. It all changed that day I came forward.”