A 59-year old woman who was imprisoned and raped by a man in his flat nine years ago has secured €85,000 damages against him at the High Court.
The man is now a ward of court and cannot be named. He did not defend the action which was before the court for assessment of damages only.
He was jailed for six years for the attack and that term was later increased to ten following an appeal by the DPP on grounds the sentence was unduly lenient.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton said no sum of money could compensate the woman for a brutal rape in which she was held for three hours before she escaped.
She suffered from symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder for four or five years afterwards, the judge said.
However, the judge added that he was glad to note the woman had not allowed the ordeal to destroy her life.
Based on previous case law, including a recent finding indicating €450,000 should be the maximum amount payable in general damages for personal injury cases, for instance paraplegia, the judge said he believe the appropriate sum of general damages in this case was €75,000, plus €10,000 for aggravated damages.
In her action, the woman said she feared for her life during the rape and assault. She was traumatised, degraded and humiliated and felt powerless to react in a situation that was becoming more dangerous by the minute, she said.
She felt certain she was going to be killed as her attacker became increasingly violent, including squeezing her neck which resulted in bruising, she said. She managed to escape after three hours.
She subsequently suffered from flashbacks, feelings of nausea and increased distress as well as feeling ashamed and unclean. She attended the Rape Crisis Centre on a number of occasions and regularly re-lives the night of the attack.