A 59-YEAR-OLD woman who was imprisoned and raped by a man in his flat nine years ago has secured €85,000 damages against him at the High Court.
The man, now a ward of court, cannot be named. He did not defend the action, before the court for assessment of damages only. He was jailed for six years for the attack, which term was later increased to 10 years following an appeal by the DPP on grounds the sentence was unduly lenient.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said no sum of money could compensate the woman for the brutal rape. She suffered symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder for four or five years afterwards, he said.
He was glad to note the woman had not allowed the ordeal to destroy her life and she was determined the rapist was not going to be a burden for the rest of her life.
Based on case law, including a finding indicating €450,000 should be the maximum in general damages for personal injury cases, for instance paraplegia, the judge said he believed the appropriate sum of general damages in this case was €75,000, plus €10,000 for aggravated damages.
In her action, the woman said she felt certain she was going to be killed as her attacker became increasingly violent. She managed to escape after three hours.