A FEMALE Irish nurse has been jailed for 2½ years for raping a woman in the toilets of the Caxton Hotel in Brisbane, Australia on November 29th, 2009.
Anne-Marie O’Loughlin (25) sobbed as she was sentenced.
The judge told O’Loughlin, who is from Co Offaly, to get help for her “sexual aggression”. He also blamed excessive drinking.
Judge David Reid recommended she be released on parole on March 3rd, 2012, the date of her 27th birthday.
That will mean she would spend a total of 18 months behind bars, including time already served.
O’Loughlin, who emigrated to Australia in 2008, was convicted on two counts of rape with the use of hands or fingers (digital rape) and one of deprivation of liberty after a trial last December.
Following the five-day trial, the jury took 13 hours to convict O’Loughlin.
She was found not guilty of a fourth charge of sexual assault. She had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial heard O’Loughlin attacked a 32-year-old mother-of-two, who cannot be named, in the women’s toilets of the hotel.
O’Loughlin first kissed the victim, who kissed her back in a bid to escape, the court heard.
When the victim tried to leave, O’Loughlin grabbed her hair, slammed her head into a wall and pulled her into a toilet cubicle.
The court heard the assault only ended when the victim’s cry for help was heard by a woman in another cubicle.
During the trial, the jury heard that O’Loughlin had lied to police, and that DNA evidence found under three of her fingernails linked her to the woman.
O’Loughlin forgot her purse, which contained identification, after the assault. It was picked up by the victim.
O’Loughlin’s sentencing was adjourned until yesterday to allow lawyers prepare submissions and her counsel to obtain references.
One character reference was written by Laois-Offaly Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan, a friend of O’Loughlin’s family.
O’Loughlin was accompanied in court yesterday by her parents and representatives of the Irish Australian Support Association of Queensland.
O’Loughlin told police she had no memory of the incident but said she got “loopy” when she mixed wine with other alcohol. She said she had been drinking wine, spirits and had had up to four shots at the bar that night.
The judge said the incident was an example of the effects of excessive drinking on young people.“This is a tragic event for all concerned,” he said.
O’Loughlin’s barrister, Damien Walsh, told the court his client had lodged an appeal against her conviction. He said her offence was “completely out of character”.
O’Loughlin is likely to be deported to Ireland upon her release from jail.