The young victim of a gang rape has given a harrowing account of the devastating impact it has had on her life.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was just 18 when she was suffered the shocking ordeal at the hands of James Marcus Doherty, 41, Steven John Cannon, 45, and Graham Peter Skillicorn, 65.

The three men were described as a ‘pack of animals’ by Deemster Graeme Cook during their sentencing on Thursday.

They had all been found guilty of rape by a jury at the end of a 10-day trial at the Court of General Gaol Delivery in October after refusing to own up to what they did.

In a harrowing victim impact statement, read out by prosecutor Roger Kane, the victim explained how her life has dramatically changed following the horrific ordeal.

‘My whole world fell apart,’ she said. ‘There are times I could not leave my house and I have bad sleep paralysis. The flashbacks are unbearable to me. It was the worst night of my life.

‘I do not feel safe in my own home and I am terrified they will come to my house.

‘I have not been able to maintain a relationship. I don’t trust men anymore and I fear they will hurt me.’

The victim said she has taken overdoses and her mental health has suffered terribly since the incident.

‘I have spent the last two years trying to put my life back together,’ she said. ‘I am still not there and, at times, I’m not sure how I will cope.

‘I realise now, not just the impact it had on me, but on my family and friends. They look at me as a broken toy that needs fixing.

‘I don’t know what a normal life is anymore but hopefully I will some day.’

The trial had heard how the three men took advantage of the vulnerable, young, heavily intoxicated female for their own sexual gratification.

Mr Kane said they took it in turns in raping her and ‘treated this young girl like a slab of meat they could do what they wanted with’.

The offences took place at Skillicorn’s flat on Cushag Road, Anagh Coar, in the early hours of June 25, 2022. The victim did not know the three men prior to that evening and only met them through a mutual friend.

The victim was with another girl who was sleeping in a spare bedroom at the time while she was in the lounge with the other men. She described blacking out before coming to, with Doherty on top of her.

The victim said she could not move while the three men took turns raping her.

After the multiple assaults, the girl jumped off the armchair, grabbed her underwear and ran into the spare room where her friend was sleeping on the mattress. She was in a highly distressed state, visibly crying.

Doherty and Cannon, who both previously lived at Murray’s Road, Douglas but whose addresses were given in court as care of the prison, accepted they’d had sex with the girl but claimed it was consensual. Skillicorn denied having sex with the complainant.

But the jury saw through their lies and took less than two hours to deliver their unanimous verdicts on the three charged with rape.

Doherty was jailed for 16 years for the rape. He was also handed a further three years for unlawful wounding after inciting his Staffordshire bull terrier to bite a police officer during an arrest on July 17 last year. He was also sentenced for several driving offences to run concurrently.

Cannan was jailed for 15 years and nine months for rape while Skillicorn was imprisoned for 14 years six months for the same offence. All three men have been handed an indefinite restraining order stopping them from contacting the victim in any way and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Afterwards, Deemster Cooke addressed the victim saying: ‘The bravery you have shown in reporting matters, making a video interview and having the courage to attend court and go through such an ordeal should be commended.

‘You were called a liar but you were never the liar. I do hope in time you can move on from this. What a courageous young woman you are.’