Warning for readers: This report contains details of sexual violence that may be upsetting.
A CONVICTED PAEDOPHILE has been given eight life sentences for raping his girlfriend before breaking into her mother’s house and raping her three days later.
The mother, who was aged 60 at the time, was saved when her daughter heard the rape taking place in the background of a voicemail the attacker had left her by accident.
Today, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy said the offences fell into the “wholly exceptional” category of rape offences which deserve a life sentence. He imposed eight life terms for the various offences which will run concurrently.
The 47-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the women’s identities, has previously served a lengthy sentence for raping his daughter over a four year period.
Mr Justice McCarthy said it was one of the most serious cases of its type that he had ever passed sentence on.
In her victim impact statement, the daughter described it as a “night of horror”.
She said the attack “took her dignity, her self-esteem, her confidence, her belief in forgiveness and her belief that there was good in people”. She said her trust in the man “was abused in a brutal manner”.
Her mother, who suffers from severe arthritis, said she was “tortured” that night. She said she now lived in fear and could no longer be alone in her home, which used to be her sanctuary.
Out on bail
At the time of the latest attacks on his girlfriend and her mother he was on bail for kidnapping and seriously assaulting the same girlfriend the previous year. Last December he was jailed for three and a half years for the kidnapping.
The father of four pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape of the two women in various ways between 2 July and 5 July, 2015 at locations in Dublin. He also pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, attempted rape, aggravated burglary, making threats to kill and aggravated sexual assault.
Detective Inspector Paul Cleary told Kerida Naidoo SC, prosecuting, that the ordeal started after the accused became angry when his girlfriend’s mother refused to let him into their house. He went with his girlfriend to another location where they had sex during which the man became extremely violent.
The woman begged him to stop saying “please love, please love, you’re hurting me,” but he continued to rape her. Afterwards she felt she couldn’t go home and went with the accused to a hostel.
“I’ll kill you”
The next day he woke her up and brought her into the bathroom where he told her: “I’ll slice you up, I’ll kill you, I’ll teach you to disrespect me.” He then alternated between orally and anally raping the woman until she vomited.
Afterwards she lay sobbing in the bed and the man told her to shut up and be quiet. She later fled to a friend’s house.
Two days later the woman had a missed call and voicemail from the accused. In the background of the voicemail message she could hear her mother saying “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry” and the accused telling her to “put it in your mouth”.
Vicious assault
Earlier that evening the man had forced his way into the house after the mother opened the door to him. He punched her and held a Stanley knife to her throat as he called her a “whore” and a “slut”.
He dragged the 60-year-old woman up the stairs by her hair before tying her up with the belts of two dressing gowns. Detective Inspector Cleary said that for the next two hours and 40 minutes she was subjected to a vicious physical and sexual assault.
The accused spoke in a relatively calm voice as he called the woman names, punched her and held the blade to her throat. He also “sunk his teeth into her nose”.
He choked her with her underwear before raping her repeatedly. He told her he would slit her throat and wait for her daughter to come home before slitting hers.
Believed she was going to die
The woman passed out several times. She believed she was going to die and prayed that her daughter wouldn’t return home. During this time the man was repeatedly ringing her daughter with no answer.
He told the woman “you better work hard or I’ll kill you here and now.” At one stage he brought her into the bathroom and attempted to flush the toilet over her head “to wash her off”.
Gardaí had been alerted by the woman’s daughter after she heard the voicemail. As officers banged on the door the accused told the woman he would kill her.
Gardaí broke in and chased the man into the back garden where they pepper sprayed him after he refused to drop the knife.
Det Insp Cleary said the woman was left “unbelievably traumatised” afterwards and now felt a prisoner in her own home.
In interview the accused made some admissions but claimed the mother had invited him in and that she was lying about certain aspects of the attack.
Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said his client had instructed him not to minimise the seriousness of the offending. He said his client had some insight into his offending and was on the waiting list for psychological treatment in prison.
Mr Justice McCarthy agreed to extend legal aid in the event the man decides to appeal the sentence or conviction.
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