Rapist burglar Gerard Kane back on the streets after serving two years for thefts

The deviant home intruder was released from the Midlands Prison on Friday.

Kane (45) was returned to the prison in January of 2020 after breaching the terms of a suspended sentence for breaking into a woman's house and repeatedly raping her in 2011.

He received a 12-year-sentence with the final three years suspended in 2012 - on condition he sit his Leaving Certificate behind bars.

Kane, formerly of Dominic Street, Dún Laoghaire, had pleaded guilty in 2012 at the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman at her home on June 17, 2011.

He was on bail at the time of the rape for breaking into the constituency office of the then Fianna Fáil TD Barry Andrews.

At his sentence hearing on the rape charges in November 2011, the court heard that the woman was alone in her apartment at 1.30am when she was awoken by Kane who had broken into her home.

During the following three hours she was raped twice by Kane who threatened to bury the victim in the back garden­.

As he was leaving he made her promise not to call the Gardaí, gave her a hug and asked for her number so he could take her out to dinner.

In a victim impact report, the woman told the court that the week after the break-in was the worst of her life because she thought Kane might return and kill her "like he said he would".

She said she became paranoid and anxious and was forced to take sleeping tablets.

Kane was sentenced in November 2012 by Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan to 12 years with three suspended. He was released from prison in August 2018 but committed two further burglaries in January of 2019.

He received a 3½ year sentence with the final year suspended for these burglaries in December.

In 2019, following his early release, Kane pleaded guilty to burglary at Dún Laoghaire Further Education Institute, burglary at Silchester Crescent in Glenageary and handling stolen property on January 20, 2019.

Dealing with the suspended portion of the 2012 sentence, Mr Justice Michael White told the Central Criminal Court that Kane was released into the community "fairly cold" and had immediate issues with rough sleeping and addiction.

The judge activated two years of the three years of the suspended term but reduced that to activation of one year to give Kane credit for time he had spent in custody on the Circuit Court charges.

The activated year ran consecutive to the sentence he is serving for the 2019 burglaries.