A man who asked a prostitute how it felt to have AIDS after he buggered and raped her has been jailed for seven years by Mr Justice Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Simon McDonnell (26) was detected because his then 19-year-old victim memorised his car registration number when his brake lights illuminated it in the early hours of January 27th, 1998. McDonnell, of Abbeyview, Monkstown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to two charges of raping a woman in the Bloomfield Lane area of Donnybrook on that day.
His victim had a heroin habit. She has since given up prostitution. "My life is in bits," she told the court. She said she thought she would never get over her ordeal in a field off Bloomfield Lane. She had attempted suicide three times and had lost all self-esteem and was attending a number of psychiatrists.
Det Sgt Kevin Dolan told Ms Una McGurk, prosecuting, that the victim had agreed a £50 fee for a range of sexual services including the use of a condom.
When McDonnell drove her to the field he said his wallet was missing and began searching her for it. He asked her to take off her jacket so he could search it. She felt there was something wrong and suggested he go to a bank machine for money but he turned nasty and shouted that she should not tell him what to do.
When she replied she wanted nothing more to do with him, he grabbed her arms and pulled her back by the hair.
Det Sgt Dolan said the woman was terrified and McDonnell told her to shut up or he would cause her "a lot of damage". He buggered her and then raped her again. He made his AIDS comment after the intercourse and then ordered her out of the car.
When two of her colleagues brought her to Donnybrook Garda station she was unable to sit down and was taken to hospital.
Mr Eamonn Leahy SC, defending, said McDonnell had a very troubled upbringing. His client had asked him to express his remorse for his actions.
Mr Justice Carney said an analysis of 150 sex assault cases before the court indicated a large number of them involved violent attacks on prostitutes. Very often, as in this case, the assaults were set off by false allegations that the prostitute had taken money from the rapist. "An aggravating feature in this case, which is going to be reflected in the sentence, is the gratuitous cruelty of having entered her and then saying `how does it feel to have AIDS'. She is manifestly in bits as a result of that," he added.
The judge suspended the final year of the sentence to reflect McDonnell's early guilty plea.