Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha: two rapes and a 20-year term

A 17-year-old accepted what she thought was a lift home. She was instead confined, driven to remote locations and subjected to repeated rape and sexual assault. After she begged to be released, Da Rocha raped her for a second time.

Published 28 July 2026 · Remigration Ireland case ledger

4Convictions

2Rape convictions

19 yearsActive term imposed

€1.88mConditional illustration

Gabriel Gomes Da Rocha received the longest sentence imposed on the five men punished for the 2016 Midlands gang rape. His offending crossed locations and continued after the teenager pleaded to be allowed out of the car. A jury convicted him of two rapes, sexual assault and false imprisonment.

A supposed lift home became false imprisonment

In the early hours of 27 December 2016, the 17-year-old was trying to get home after a night out in Tullamore. A car stopped and an occupant called her name. Believing the men would bring her home, she got in.

They did not take her to her destination. The group drove her towards a remote, disused harbour near Kilbeggan. The Irish Times reported that Da Rocha was 19 and that his family was originally from Brazil. This file therefore describes him as Brazilian-origin; it does not claim a nationality that the source does not establish.

The first rape and the filming

The men sexually assaulted the teenager during the journey. At the first remote location, Da Rocha and two other men raped her in turn. She saw flashes through the car windows and realised that members of the group were recording the attacks on mobile phones.

The Central Criminal Court later heard that the teenager repeatedly told the men to stop. She explained why she did not escape: there was one of her and five of them.

She begged to leave; Da Rocha raped her again

The ordeal did not end when the group left the first location. After two men were dropped off, the teenager pleaded to be let out of the car. Da Rocha and Eduardo Dias Ferreira Filho held her inside and repeatedly asked for a threesome. She repeatedly refused.

Ferreira Filho then orally raped her while Da Rocha raped her for the second time that night. Only after that second-location attack was she released.

Four distinct convictions

Following a six-week Central Criminal Court trial, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts in April 2022. Da Rocha was convicted of two counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of false imprisonment.

Those are separate legal findings. The sexual assault and false imprisonment are not described here as additional rape convictions, and Da Rocha's liability is not expanded beyond the four offences on which the jury convicted him.

Twenty years, with the final year suspended

On 2 June 2022, Ms Justice Tara Burns set a 22-year headline sentence before mitigation and imposed a 20-year term with the final year suspended. The result was an active term of 19 years. The court heard that Da Rocha had no previous convictions.

RTÉ's count-level sentencing report records 19 years and 15 years on the two rape counts, four and a half years for sexual assault and eight years for false imprisonment. The terms run concurrently; they are not to be added together.

Sentence appeal heard, judgment reserved

Da Rocha lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence. At the Court of Appeal on 9 December 2025, his counsel argued that the 22-year headline term was excessive and that the offending should not have been placed in the highest sentencing category. The Director of Public Prosecutions opposed the appeal.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the court would reserve judgment. No later published determination was located in searches completed on 28 July 2026. The supportable status is therefore that the sentence appeal has been heard and judgment remains reserved; this file does not present the appeal as dismissed or the sentence as varied.

Case chronology

27 December 2016: The 17-year-old is picked up in Tullamore, falsely imprisoned, sexually assaulted and raped at two locations.
April 2022: A jury convicts Da Rocha after a six-week Central Criminal Court trial.
2 June 2022: The court imposes 20 years with the final year suspended, leaving 19 years active.
23 June 2022: Da Rocha's sentence appeal is publicly reported as lodged.
9 December 2025: The Court of Appeal hears the severity challenge and reserves judgment.
28 July 2026: No later published appeal determination has been located.

Immigration record: no inference

The sources reviewed establish Brazilian family origin. They do not establish Da Rocha's nationality, route into Ireland, residence permission, asylum history, deportation status or removal. This file makes no claim on any of those matters.

A transparent cost illustration

The Irish Prison Service reported a 2024 average of €99,072 per available staffed prison space, excluding capital expenditure. Applying that later benchmark to the 19 active years imposed produces a conditional capacity illustration of €1,882,368.

This is not a case invoice or a claim about actual spending. The benchmark is later than the offence and sentence; remission, time served, any appellate change, historic rates and marginal costs can all differ. It excludes Garda investigation, prosecution, courts, legal aid, counselling and victim support.