2 Sligo men get 8 years in beating of gay U.S. writer

By Andrew Bushe

DUBLIN — Two Sligo men have been jailed for eight years for a serious assault on a gay American writer, Robert Drake, who was crippled for life after they brutally beat him in his apartment in the town a year ago.

Drake, who’s 37, was transferred from Sligo Hospital and then brought to Dublin, where he was put on a life support machine in Beaumont Hospital.

He was in a coma for months before being flown to a hospital in Philadelphia. He is now confined to a wheelchair and has difficulty eating and speaking.

Judge Anthony Kennedy described the events of the case as "truly shocking," saying that Drake had been beaten to within an inch of his life and left alone in that appalling condition for 15 hours.

Glen Mahon, 22, of Cranmore, and Ian Monaghan, 21, of Pearse Road, had pleaded not guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the author at his apartment on Holborn Street, Sligo, on Jan. 31, 1999.

Last October, the jury brought in a guilty verdict by a majority of 10 to 1 after a five-day trial.

In their statements Mahon and Monaghan said they had gone to Drake’s apartment at his invitation and he had offered them drinks and cigars.

In statements to gardai, Mahon admitted striking Drake with his fist and Monaghan said he had also hit him and after he claimed Drake had made sexual advances.

Both had apologized and Mahon had offered to pay compensation.

Medical evidence had been given that a CAT scan on Drake’s head showed he had suffered severe injuries that were the equivalent of two 60 mph impacts on either side of his head.

Drake had moved to Ireland to research and write a novel in April 1998 and moved to Sligo in December.

A Quaker, he was born in Maine but was adopted and brought up in Charleston, S.C.

His most recent book was a series of essays on 100 important works of gay male literature. His first novel dealt with a gay man’s response to the death of his partner as a result of a gay-bashing.