Four Brazilian men jailed in Midlands Prison for gang rape of girl (17) branded 'arrogant'

The four Brazilians are on the A Wing in the Co. Laois prison where sources have described them as "arrogant."

"They are a bit too smart for their own good," according to a Sunday World source.

The gang who put the teenage girl through an horrendous sexual ordeal in a car on St Stephen's night in 2016 were sentenced this week for a total of 66 years.

They will be sharing the wing with other infamous sex offenders, including Eoin Berkeley who is serving 14 years for raping a Spanish student he abducted in Dublin city-centre in 2017.

Another is 63-year-old Richard O'Brien, who got 15 years for luring a grandmother to a caravan in Dublin before raping her, assaulting her and biting her during a sustained and vicious attack on March 19, 2011.

Also on A Wing is evil predator John Lewis, who got seven years in 2020 for abusing a 16-year-old he had forced to sign a 'contract' to obey him.

The four 'Midlands Rapists' had denied the charges, forcing their victim to re-live the horror from the witness stand.

It was heard this week how Marcus De Silva Umbelino, who got a 14-year sentence, was 17 at the time of the offence had been living in Ireland since he was 15 but his English was poor.

The trial judge accepted this would make life more difficult for him in prison along with his medical condition - an undiagnosed muscular disorder.

However, he had not accepted his guilt or shown remorse, unlike the other men.

Eduardo Dias Ferreira Filho was 19 at the time of the offences; he got 17 years for his act of oral rape, which was committed while the woman was being raped by another man.

It was also heard in court how Gabriel Gomez da Rocha, 19 at the time of the attack, had restarted his education in prison and had reflected on his actions and understood the gravity of the offences.

He had raped her twice during the prolonged ordeal and as a result got the most severe sentence.

Ethan Nikolaou, then 18, was sentenced to six years and four years for two counts of sexual assault.

Conor Byrne (24) from Moate, Co Westmeath, who had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 10 years.

Justice Tara Burns said that the men "behaved like animals" on the night of December 27, 2016. She said there was "not a shred of humanity or respect" in their actions.

She said that the rapes and sexual assaults committed by the men involved "degradation of the most extreme nature," and that even without the use of violence, "the act of a gang rape is offending behaviour of the most serious kind".

"This depravity is absolutely shocking," she said.

In her victim impact statement this week, the woman said being raped by four men at the age of 17 had ruined her life and she would never be the same person again.

She said the only way to describe the effect was like "a falling Colosseum".

"First it took the internal parts of me - my dignity, my innocence, my trust, my confidence, my self worth. Then it started taking my external parts.

"My education fell apart, my social skills, my friendships dwindled and isolation crept in."

Now suffering from flashbacks and PTSD, she described it as terrifying to have to give evidence at the trial knowing it would take her back to when she was attacked.

Directly addressing the men, who had denied the charges, she said she would never forgive them, describing some of their actions as "deviously calculating"

To the one who had pleaded guilty she said he had left it until the very last minute, but he had done the right thing and she would try to forgive him.