NI man who went on the run in Donegal admits breaching terms of sex offenders register

A convicted rapist from Northern Ireland who went on the run in Donegal  has admitted breaching the terms of the police sex offenders register.
29 year-old Joseph McCabe  pleaded guilty at Belfast Crown Court to failing to notify police of his intention to travel outside the UK.
Released from jail last April, McCabe and another convict went on the run to County Donegal.
Despite McCabe having then handed himself into the Police,  Gardai still applied for a bench warrant for his arrest for an offence in the Republic.
McCabe was accused of failing to provide his name and other details to gardai in the Republic between April 12 and 19 under the Sex Offenders Act.
In February 2005, McCabe and another man broke into the home of a then aged 64-year-old woman and subjected her to what a judge described as a “terrifying prolonged ordeal” and a violent sexual offence carried out with “significant gratuitous violence”.
In May of 2012, Judge Kevin Finnegan , who originally jailed McCabe for the pensioner’s rape, suspended his licence for a year, sending him back into custody for 12 months.
Today Judge Finnegan adjourned passing sentence in the breach matters until pre-sentence probation reports have been compiled next month.