A DUBLIN man who raped a, mildly mentally handicapped woman in 1991 was jailed for four years yesterday.
Mrs Justice McGuinness noted the 32 year old man had already been in custody for almost two years on the matter. He was found guilty by a jury in the Central Criminal Court on December 2nd last after a six day retrial and has been in custody since then for sentence. Previously he had served just short of 18 months of a seven year sentence imposed after the original trial.
Mrs Justice McGuinness noted from the probation report that he still maintained his innocence and had been the victim of violent attacks by other prisoners. He was considered a suicide risk. There was no evidence he had a violent criminal character.
His crime had had a detrimental effect on the woman, who had been leading as normal a life as she could in the circumstances. She had been a slow learner at school who then suffered serious head injuries at seven years of age when struck by a car outside her home.
Mrs Justice McGuinness said the woman found giving evidence at the second trial more difficult than at the first.
The court was told the 26 year old victim didn't wish to exercise her right to give evidence. Mrs Justice McGuinness agreed with the submission by Mr Barry White SC, defending, that the legislation permitted the victim only to give evidence at the sentence hearing and rejected an application by the woman's father to give evidence.
A jury of seven women and five men took almost four hours to find the man guilty by unanimous verdicts of raping and sexually assaulting the woman on May 17th, 1991. An order was made prohibiting publication of his name.
Insp Malachy Geraghty said the drape happened in the defendant's house after the victim went there with his then girlfriend. She became tired after consuming cans of drink too fast and fell asleep on, the defendant's bed while he and his girlfriend returned downstairs.
Some time later she woke to, find him raping her. He stopped when she screamed and "clattered him on the head".
The defendant's then girlfriend didn't believe the victim's complaint a few minutes later of him raping her. She said nothing to her parents but the following day she confided in another friend and was taken to a hospital where she was given the "morning after" pill.
Insp Geraghty, replying to Mr Denis Vaughan Buckley SC (with Mr Roger Sweetman), prosecuting, said the victim's mother discovered a copy of the prescription some time later on the floor of her daughter's bedroom.
The family confronted the defendant in an altercation on his doorstep, then hailed a passing Garda patrol car and made a formal complaint.