A HOSPITAL SECURITY guard has been jailed for 14 years for the rape and violent assault of two sex workers.

The Central Criminal Court heard that one of the victims was forced to jump naked from a window to get away from Noel McKeon (32) as he tried to stab her.

The attacks, on June 18, 2016 and on February 2, 2018, both took place after McKeon contacted the two women through an “escorts” website and consensual sex took place.

In the 2016 attack McKeon became aggressive and abusive after the consensual sex. He punched the woman and when she tried to escape out of the flat he slammed her head against the door knob and dragged her by her hair across a floor.

He kicked her in the face and head and then grabbed her throat, making it hard for her to breathe.

He told the woman “if you don’t want me to hurt you anymore put your hands there” and forced her to position herself for penetration. He then sexually assaulted and raped her.

The woman managed to get up onto a kitchen counter and climbed out on to a window ledge. McKeon grabbed a knife and tried to stab her ankle but the woman managed to get down onto a dropped roof below and hide. 

CCTV footage later viewed by gardaí showed McKeon “calmly and slowly” exiting the flat complex in north Dublin. The alarm was raised when the woman ran out of the flat and into traffic and a taxi driver stopped and took her to Clontarf garda station.

She was bleeding profusely and had bruising all over her body.

On February 4, 2018 McKeon met another sex worker. After they had consensual sex McKeon began to demand sex without a condom and when the woman refused he punched her in the eye with his closed fist.

He pulled her hair out before raping her both vaginally and anally. The woman was screaming for help and he told her “if she didn’t stop she knew what would happen”.

He then sexually assaulted her again by forcing her to perform oral sex. After the attack the woman went to garda, and presented with bruising to her eye, face and arms.

Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue told the court that both victims were sex workers, the first victim was from a Latin American country while the second woman was a Romanian native.

McKeon, formerly of Orchard Way, Greenwood, Dublin pleaded guilty to sexual assault, assault, robbery and rape of the two women. He also admitted false imprisonment of the first victim.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt said that McKeon subjected both victims to degradation and humiliation. He set consecutive headline sentences of ten years for each victim.

He said he was giving a four year discount to take the pleas of guilty into consideration, leaving a 16 year term. He suspended the final two years of this sentence on condition that McKeon engage in sex offender treatment, addiction treatment and anger management specifically around violence towards women.

Victim impact 

In her victim impact statement the first woman, a mother, said she felt powerless during the attack.

“What I was doing at the time was dangerous.  What would have happened if I had not being able to escape? If I had died that night, how long would I have been left there?,” she said.

The second woman told the court that she still feels a sense of fear for her life. 

“In our job you have to be tough. You never know what you come across,” she said. She said there were no words to describe the humiliation of the attack.

Caroline Biggs SC, defending, told the court that her client was a father of four who was estranged from his family. His previous conditions include a breach of a safety order.

She said at the time he had worked in security at the Mater hospital and he told the victim this. She said he has a history of drug abuse and suicide attempts and she believed that a road traffic accident was one such.

“He wishes to express his remorse and regret for what he has done,” counsel said.