A MAN has been jailed for 3½ years for sexually assaulting a woman.
Florian Begaj (38) was convicted of aggravated sexual assault but acquitted of rape after a five-day trial at the Central Criminal Court last month.
He had pleaded not guilty to both charges at his apartment on Snugborough Road, Blanchardstown, in the early hours of New Year’s Day, 2008. Begaj, a father of three from Albania, who has been in Ireland for seven years, had obtained refugee status.
Mr Justice George Birmingham said he was impressed by the number of character testimonials, especially those from women.
He said this showed Begaj is ordinarily respectful of women but that the incident was “extremely unpleasant” for the victim, who was left in a “very shocked and distressed state”. He directed that Begaj be placed on the sex offenders’ register and that he undergo post-release supervision.
Garda Brendan O’Hora said the 39-year-old woman first met Begaj at a Dublin city centre nightclub earlier that night where he offered to buy her a drink, told her he was from Greece and that his name was “Anton”.
Garda O’Hora said the woman separated from her friends on O’Connell Street and was trying to flag a taxi when Begaj offered her a lift home. The car drove instead to his Blanchardstown apartment.
Garda O’Hora said the woman went with Begaj to his apartment where he drank whiskey, forced her down on his sofa, removed her trousers and physically assaulted her when she struggled to get free.
Garda O’Hora said the man went to the Garda station voluntarily a few days later but denied the woman’s allegations, claiming she had removed her own clothes.
The garda agreed with Hugh Hartnett SC, defending, that his client was a hard-working man, often working two jobs at “all hours of the day and night.”