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'Chronic' drug abuser jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a woman at Luas stop
Accused has 153 previous convictions
File photo
Reporter:
Alison O'Riordan
04 Jun 2024 3:19 PM
A chronic drug abuser, with 153 previous convictions, has been jailed for three years for a 'degrading' sexual assault on a woman at a Luas stop.
Sentencing the 35-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim at the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the woman was sexually assaulted in the course of the robbery and felt compelled to undress to show she had nothing hidden.
The court heard that the woman was a vulnerable person who was put in fear on the night and subjected to force. A disagreement about drugs had ensued whereby €200 was taken from the victim.
The accused man held the victim down and held her legs open while a female, co-accused, searched inside the victim's vagina.
The victim told gardaí that the man had stood on her neck and stamped on her head with his other foot. She said the man held her legs open whilst the female attacker searched inside her vagina. She said the male attacker kept stamping on her head whilst the female punched her.
"They dragged me all over the Luas stop and said 'I'll kill you and f**k you in the canal'," she stated.
The victim then had €200 taken from her. She was later rescued by a local man who chased off her assailants with a golf club.
Last month, the accused, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at Drimnagh Luas Stop, Davitt Road, Dublin 12 on January 26, 2023.
He had also pleaded guilty to stealing and putting the victim in fear of being subjected to force on the same occasion.
Last January, the co-accused, a 49-year-old woman, who also could not be named to protect the identity of the victim, was jailed for three years at the Central Criminal Court after pleading guilty to sexual assault and robbery on the same occasion.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the victim said she has since developed a fear of going outside and that she is not eating or sleeping and has "thoughts of self-harm" since the incident.
The victim said she had a full relapse into the abuse of hard drugs and has had to move addresses three times since the attack: “It has caused me so much pain and has broken me physically, mentally and spiritually” she concluded, adding that she is currently on a detox from drugs.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice McDermott said the penetration of the woman's vagina was not down to the defendant but the other woman involved. However, he said there was "a pair of them in it".
The judge pointed out that the assault could not have been carried out without the defendant and he had proceeded to assist in the sexual assault of the woman. He said the defendant was satisfied to engage in holding down the victim's legs while a search was carried out on her private area.
"Essentially the pair of them abandoned any social constraints or norms. She was lucky that someone took the initiative and intervened to put a stop to it. There was a vicious element to this," he added.
The court heard that the defendant, who has been homeless for the majority of his adult life, has 153 previous convictions. They mainly relate to public order offences but also include possession of knives, theft and assaulting a police officer. None of his previous convictions are of a sexual nature.
The judge set the headline sentence at six years.
In mitigation, the judge noted the defendant's mental health problems which date back to his teenage years and his history of schizophrenia.
The man was sentenced to four years in prison with the final year suspended for a period of three years. It was backdated to April 30, 2023.
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