Three men have been jailed for the “cruel, cynical and depraved” rape and sexual assault of a woman they encountered in a Dublin nightclub almost six years ago.
Anthony Hickey (39), Fabio Vicente (42) and Matin Zolfaghari (34) were convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court last month, after pleading not guilty to offences which took place on August 31st, 2019.
Imposing sentence on Thursday, Mr Justice Paul Burns noted “to say the facts of this matter are disturbing is something of an understatement”.
He said the victim was in a vulnerable state, and the three men “acting together” took advantage of her vulnerability in a “cruel, cynical, and depraved manner, devoid of any semblance of human decency”.
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The judge said they were “mature” men, who subjected the victim to an “abhorrent series of sexual attacks”, which went “far beyond humiliation”, were dehumanising as well as a “total denial of her inherent dignity as a human being”.
He said the offending must be seen in its “true context” of ”concerted and simultaneous sexual abuse by three men of a vulnerable woman”.
The judge said it was “truly shocking” that such “vile abuse” could happen to a woman on a night out in Dublin in 2019.
Hickey, of Ballyogan Square, Carrickmines, Dublin 18, was convicted of raping the woman in his then address in Dundrum, and of orally raping and sexually assaulting her in a car.
The personal trainer and father of two was handed a sentence of 16 years, with the final year suspended on strict conditions.
Vicente, of Little Newtown, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, was found guilty of raping the woman in the car and raping her in Hickey’s then-home.
The part-time stripper and personal trainer also received a sentence of 16 years, with the final year suspended.
Zolfaghari (34), of Marley Court, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, was convicted of the oral rape of the woman in the house. The jury found him not guilty of sexually assaulting the woman in the car.
The father of one and restaurant director was given a sentence of 14 years, with the final year suspended.
The court has previously heard the three men do not accept the jury’s verdicts.
Hickey has 10 previous convictions, including one for assault causing harm. Vicente has one previous conviction for a road traffic offence, while Zolfaghari has no previous convictions.
During a previous sentence hearing, the woman said in her victim impact statement that the three men were “complete strangers” who “took advantage of me and used me and my body as if I was an object that they were entitled to”.
She noted that every victim thinks it is their fault at some point, but she said that the fault rested solely with the men ”who waited and preyed and took advantage”.
“You not only raped me, I found out during the trial you violated me in another way. You videoed raping me.”
“You sent around these videos and laughed about me saying ‘no’. You laughed because you didn’t care and you have shown no remorse from the second you entered into these courts.”
In his remarks, Mr Justice Burns said the victim was not at fault for what happened, and the blame rested solely with the men.
The woman had been socialising and went to the nightclub with a friend. She gave evidence during the trial that her memory was hazy after her friend left, but recalled dancing and remembered being offered a white powder, but couldn’t say if she took any.
She recalled being in the back of a vehicle, which she believed to be a taxi, with up to four men, where she was raped. The woman also remembered lying in a bed and kicking out while a male was on top of her.
Forensic analysis showed the woman was highly intoxicated.
CCTV footage was used to identify the men and a Volkswagen Touareg SUV belonging to Vicente.
When the men were interviewed, they described engaging in consensual sexual activity with the woman.
An analysis of Hickey’s phone identified WhatsApp messages in which he asked Zolfaghari to send him a video.
After Zolfaghari sent two clips which he had recorded on the night of August 31st, Hickey replied: “Listen to you laughing after she says ‘no’.”
While nothing is visible in either video, the woman is heard saying ‘no’ several times in a 30-second clip recorded in the car. A second video was recorded in the house.
A later analysis of the men’s phones uncovered communication between them, which included a version of the events that night. This version of events was recirculated before their Garda interviews in September 2020.
Mr Justice Burns said in his sentencing remarks that “rather than feeling any sense of remorse”, two of the men found “callous amusement” in these videos.
The judge noted that Zolfaghari was convicted of only one offence, but this had to be seen in overall context of the night, and that Zolfaghari had recorded the videos. He said it was “difficult to see his behaviour as significantly less culpable” than the other men.
Mr Justice Burns directed the three men to place themselves under the supervision of The Probation Services for three years post-release and backdated their sentences to the date they went into custody.
The judge extended his best wishes to the victim, and said the court hoped that she would make a further recovery, with the support of her family and appropriate services.
He also commended the gardaí for their “excellent and painstaking” investigation.
After the court rose, a large number of supporters of the men entered the back of the courtroom, some shouting “I love you”, with others giving the thumbs up to the men.
When directed to leave by gardaí, a female voice said “we are all very upset right now, give us a minute”, while another female voice called out “they were over-sentenced, they are all innocent”.
