A deemster has praised the bravery of a ‘courageous young woman’ whose evidence has led to a total jail term of more than 50 years for the three men who gang raped her.

James Marcus Doherty, 41, Steven John Cannon, 45, and Graham Peter Skillicorn, 65, were described as a ‘pack of animals’ by Deemster Graeme Cook during their sentencing on Thursday.

The three were 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 the victim, just 18 at the time she was raped, explained how her life has dramatically changed following the horrific ordeal.

She said: ‘My life has changed forever. That night, three violent individuals took away my innocence and spirit. The memories of that night will never go away.’

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

Roger Kane, prosecuting, 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’.

Mr Kane told the court the men took advantage of her drunken state and the fact she had taken drugs.

He said: ‘They could see she was flopped on the armchair, not moving, not saying anything. These men should have been protecting her, not abusing her.’

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.

She said the fourth defendant, who was found not guilty of a charge of indecent assault, was a friend, But when he walked into the room she whispered to him to help her but instead he ignored her and even videoed her being raped.

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.

During Deemster Cook’s sentencing, Doherty continuously muttered under his breathe and made comments. He was warned several times before being taken to the cells.

Deemster Cooke referred to the claims by the men during trial that the victim lied.

He told the defendants in the dock: ‘The victim was not a liar, you three are the liars.

‘None of you had the courage to come forward and say you did it. You took advantage of a young, intoxicated woman who could not possibly have consented.

‘You acted like a pack of animals and, as Mr Kane described, you treated her like a piece of meat.’

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.

Cannon 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.

In the wake of the sentencing, the Isle of Man Constabulary praised the bravery of the victim and urged other victims to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Christie Sayle, who has responsibility for the Protecting Vulnerable People Safeguarding and Investigations teams, said: ‘I would like to take this opportunity to commend the victim in this case for the tremendous bravery she has shown by reporting the matter to the police and having the courage to stand in court to give her evidence in the presence of those responsible.

‘Special thanks also to the detectives within the Protecting Vulnerable People Investigation team, the Prosecution team from the Attorney Generals Chambers and members of Victim Support Isle of Man, who worked tirelessly to make sure all of the evidence was gathered and presented to the best possible standard and for all the support they have given the victim throughout the lengthy and distressing process.

‘Being the victim of any form of sexual offence is extremely traumatic and upsetting and it takes courage to report such matters.

‘Specialist officers are available to speak with anyone who wishes to report any sexual offence and those officers will be able to offer the support, guidance and advice to victims throughout any police investigation.’