Courts

One of two women raped by taxi driver says she got taxi ‘to be safe’ but suffered ‘worst nightmare’

Second victim was a virgin when ‘predator’ taxi driver raped her, court told

Dublin taxi driver Raymond Shorten pleaded not guilty to raping the women. Photograph: Instagram

Mary Carolan
Mon Jul 1 2024 - 14:02

One of two young women raped by a Dublin taxi driver in the back of his vehicle on separate nights has told a judge she got a taxi home “to be safe” but experienced the “worst nightmare”.

She continues to suffer anxiety and trust issues as a result of being raped by Raymond Shorten when she was aged 20, the Central Criminal Court heard.

What happened to her was “every parent’s worst nightmare” and her parents were also badly affected.

A second woman said she was a 19-year-old virgin when she was raped by Shorten.

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“I still don’t know what to say: it’s shocking that this even happened in the first place, that a predator like this didn’t just get me but he raped another.”

Having heard both women’s victim impact statements, evidence and submissions on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said he would impose sentence on July 22nd on Shorten.

Geraldine Small SC, for the DPP, asked that a headline sentence of 10-15 years be considered for the offences against both women.

One of the women had not even hailed a taxi on the night in question, and CCTV showed Shorten driving around before stopping the taxi beside her, counsel said.

Lorcan Staines SC, for the defence, said Shorten is a 50-year-old father of seven who had worked all his life. He had lost his marriage and relationship with his elderly parents but hoped to rebuild relationships with his children, counsel said.

Shorten, of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month of two counts of rape and one of anal rape.

He had pleaded not guilty to the rape and anal rape of the then 19-year-old woman on June 26th, 2022. He also denied the rape of the second woman, then aged 20, a couple of months later, on August 9th.

The prosecution case was each woman found themselves in a taxi after a night out socialising in Dublin city centre where each was raped by the driver, Shorten.

In her evidence, the first woman said she drank five pints of cider, an amount she was not used to, on the night of June 25th, 2022.

She described gaps in her memory of her journey home. She recalled waking up in the front passenger seat of a car in the early hours, with a man driving. She said he moved her to the back seat where he raped her anally and vaginally before returning her to the driver’s seat and dropping her near her home.

The second woman said she was tired and drunk after going for drinks in Dublin city centre on August 8th, 2022. She fell asleep in the back of a taxi and the next thing she remembered was waking up as the driver was raping her. She said she was in shock and didn’t know how to fight back. He had asked for €70 for the taxi fare, she said.

Shorten denied rape and said the sexual interactions between him and each of the women was consensual. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

On Monday, Ms Small read victim impact statements from both women.

The victim who was aged 19 when raped said: “It’s messed with my intimate life as that was my first time, I was a virgin. I’d say I’ve made some poor decisions around my dating and intimate life because of it.”

She has lost confidence, is uncomfortable in taxis and “a lot of men in the room is enough to panic me”.

“I’ve lost my ability to feel carefree and safe in the streets, and I get flashbacks. It’s sickening and unsettling.”

In her statement, the second woman said she developed bad feelings of anxiety after the rape, still finds it a challenge to deal with her everyday anxiety and also experienced nightmares and countless sleepless nights.

The night of August 8th, 2022, “has dramatically changed my life in so many ways”.

She never thought something like that would happen, was always told to get a taxi but what she thought was the safe thing to do turned out to be the “worst nightmare”.

Her only memory of Shorten is his “thick Dublin accent” and she finds it “triggering” when she hears similar accents. While she still tries to enjoy nights out, they “end in tears” because what Shorten did to her “is constantly in my thoughts”.

Two years of her 20s, which are “meant to be the best days of my life”, have been “taken away from me”. Her family too has suffered. “A parent’s worst nightmare is for their child to come home and say they have been raped.”

The court heard on Monday that Shorten has previous convictions, including for a serious sexual offence, but details of that cannot be reported at this stage in order to protect the identity of the victim involved.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times

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