A tourist has been jailed for four and a half years for the rape of a woman during a visit to Ireland.
Hoi Ping Yung (47) was convicted last December at the Central Criminal Court of raping the woman in a Dublin hotel room on Harcourt Street, Dublin city centre on November 21st, 2013.
Yung, who owns a family takeaway business in the UK, had flown to Dublin with a male friend who knew the complainant. The three had travelled into Dublin city in the morning and spent the day drinking and visiting around five pubs.
After missing the last bus home, they agreed to get a twin room in a hotel. The victim went to sleep in a single bed while the two men took the double bed.
The woman told the trial she awoke twice to find Yung lying next to her and rubbing her arm and leg. She elbowed him away each time and fell back asleep.
She awoke a third time to find her body had been pulled down in the bed and Yung was raping her.
She said “what the f***” and he stopped and got off her and got back into the other bed. The woman dressed quickly, left the hotel room and reported the rape.
Gardaí quickly arrived at the scene and arrested Yung but he was deemed too drunk to be fit for interview. He was arrested some time later and told gardaí he had no memory of the rape.
He said he wasn’t denying sex had taken place but maintained that if it did happen it was consensual. He has no previous convictions, Sean Guerin SC, prosecuting, told the court.
Yung, formerly of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England had pleaded not guilty to rape.
Ms Justice Tara Burns noted the references and testimonials handed into court on Yung’s behalf.
She said that while he may be a man of good character, the fact of the matter was he had committed a crime of the most violating nature against the woman. She noted the defence had presented alcohol as an explanation but not an excuse.
The judge said Yung had violated the body of the woman without her consent which had had lasting and devastating consequences for her. She noted the ongoing effects on the woman’s personal, family and work circumstances.
Ms Justice Burns took into account the fact Yung had no previous convictions, was a hard-working individual with a good work ethic and supportive family. She noted many people spoke well of him.
She noted he did not have family or friends in this jurisdiction but has had some family visits. She said there had been a delay in the prosecution but noted the victim also had to deal with the delay.
Ms Justice Burns set a headline sentence of seven and a half years but having regard to the mitigating factors she reduced this to four and a half years.
The judge wished the woman the best of luck in the future and told her she had been very brave to provided such a detailed victim impact statement.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said that certain words and phrases used during the trial had caused her to feel shame and guilt, “like I played a role”.
“The way my character was twisted was disgusting and still upsets me. There was victim shaming being done,” she stated.
The mother of two said that as a result of the trial process, she now questioned herself about wearing red lipstick, and wondered “is my underwear too sexual?”.
She said the trial forced her to relive her nightmare of being raped and “it was soul destroying”.