A MAN who repeatedly raped a woman in the grounds of a west Dublin church and school will be sentenced on Monday by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Richard Finn (20) subjected the married woman, a Polish national, to over two hours of rapes on July 22nd, 2007, during which which he used his mobile phone to photograph her body.
Mr Justice Carney said he wanted to note in public that he had received a number of what he described as "letters of support" for Finn from a parish priest and others parties he named.
Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC (with Bernard Condon), told Mr Justice Carney that the "referees" who provided the testimonials for Finn had been informed he had pleaded guilty to rape for which he was to be sentenced and they hadn't written them "in a vacuum" .
On sentencing, Mary Rose Gearty, prosecuting, told Mr Justice Carney that the Director of Public Prosecutions placed the case at the higher category considering the repetitive nature of the rapes and the humiliation caused to the victim.
While Finn hadn't used any weapons these offences were always serious in themselves and had had a significant impact on the victim with no indication of remorse from him though he had pleaded guilty.
Finn, of Rockfield Drive, Clondalkin, was soon targeted by gardaí as the rapist from her description of him as well as information arising out of two similar-type attacks on women at about the same time.
He pleaded guilty to rape and oral rape of the victim, who he had grabbed from behind at about 7.30am on Convent Road, Clondalkin, while she walked to work. He then forcibly detained the woman in the grounds of the Church of Immaculate Conception and Scoil Mhuire until nearly 10am.
The woman said in her victim impact statement that the horrific ordeal had completely changed her life in a negative way. She has returned home to Poland and didn't travel back for the court hearing. Det Insp Peter Boyle said that the victim was particularly affected by the fact that the horrific acts Finn forced on her happened in the grounds of a church.
Det Insp Boyle said her ordeal began when she was walking to work. She was grabbed from behind by Finn and pulled into the church car park. She screamed and he told her to stop but when she continued to scream he punched her in the face and told her he wouldn't harm her if she stayed quiet. Det Insp Boyle said the woman fell but was pulled to her feet by Finn who then "walked" her to a nearby garden.
She was forced into sexual acts with the accused and said she had felt sick and could smell alcohol from him but that he was not drunk. Det Insp Boyle said Finn used his phone to photograph her and repeatedly raped and abused her while she felt like she was going to vomit.
Det Insp Boyle said Finn used some Polish words which she told gardaí "is not a polite way of telling a girl that you like her".
The victim said she had not told Finn she was Polish and had spoken in English to him all the time. She wondered where he had learned the Polish words. Her ordeal continued until nearly 10am.
Finn took her back along the path and at a wall he ordered her again to remove her trousers as well as her shoes and socks so that she couldn't run away. He asked her why she tried to get away and she told him she was scared. She said she repeated this and was crying and trembling.
Det Insp Boyle said Finn then again forced the woman at least three further times through the ordeal of oral and vaginal rape. "I felt sick like I was going to vomit," she told gardaí.
Defence counsel said Finn had directed him to offer an apology to her through the court for what he did. He noted a series of school and other reports on his client who had suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in his formative years and suggested that people with the ADHD problem were more likely to get into trouble with alcohol.
"His teachers saw the good side of my client who also has a good work record," Mr O'Higgins said.