‘You are not alone... The silence will stop and you will have your day’
Woman’s message to fellow victims after her rapist is jailed for ‘crime of revenge’
A MAN has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years for the rape of his wife’s friend almost five years ago.
Paula Doyle, who waived her right to anonymity, spoke outside court yesterday after the sentencing hearing of her attacker, Aidan Kestell, 55, and she urged rape and assault victims to come forward.
She said: ‘I know it may seem that you are alone, but you are most definitely not. I know that today may seem like your darkest day and it feels everlasting, and this deplorable journey will never end but I constantly thought that too. I couldn’t see myself standing here today but I am.
‘The silence will stop, your voice will be heard, and you will have your day. If you haven’t already gotten there, if you haven’t already told someone, it’s never ever too late. Just tell one person and take it from there.’
Ms Doyle also called for more to be done to combat violence
‘We need more than vigils’
against women. She said: ‘Violence, sexual assault, rape and murder of women in this country is on the increase over the last number of years. It can happen any time, anywhere.
‘We need more than vigils and conversations. We need action. Discussions need to be had by both men and women. Young boys and girls need to be educated and spoken with in both school and at home.’
Kestell was convicted of rape after a four-day trial at the Central Criminal Court last month.
The offence took place on September 6, 2019, at Hartstown Park, Hartstown, Dublin 15.
He raped Ms Doyle in a park after walking her home from a party at his house.
The court heard Kestell, of Briarwood Lawn, Dublin 15, has no previous convictions.
After the sentencing, Ms Doyle said she had struggled with ‘physical, mental, and emotional pain’ since the assault and that it has had a lasting impact on her daily life.
She added: ‘The actions of the predator that is Aidan Kestell have caused me immense suffering. During the investigation, it was found that the vile texts, photos, videos and stalking I had been subjected to for threeand-a-half years prior to the rape were from him too.
‘I believe in innocent until proven guilty, but l also believe there’s not enough being done to protect the victim who has already had their world destroyed,’ she added.
Judge Tony Hunt yesterday set a headline sentence of nine years for the rape.
He said this was a single incident but one with appalling and enduring consequences.
He described it as a ‘crime of violence and revenge’ for which Kestell will pay a serious price.
Judge Hunt said Kestell’s actions were intentional and knowing and there was nothing reckless about it.
He said there were few mitigating factors and he was not inclined to agree that there had been a high degree of co-operation with the investigation.
He noted Kestell had first denied the offences and then gave a ‘grudging acceptance’ that it had come about in ‘a preposterous way’. The judge said he utterly failed to see how that could be co-operation with the investigation. He said the best that could be said for Kestell was that he had reached his 50s without previous offending and was of good character, with a good work history to the point when he got into this difficulty. He noted there would be serious consequences for him that would last for the rest of his life. The judge reduced the sentence to eight years and suspended the final six months. He ordered that Kestell be of good behaviour for three years post-release and have no contact with the victim or her family.
Ms Doyle said the sentencing hearing was an important step as it would close the ‘four-and-ahalf-year sentence I’ve served since the attack’.
Ms Doyle was a long-standing friend of Kestell’s wife and was at a party in his house on the night she was raped. When she was leaving, her friend insisted Kestell walk her home. She was reluctant but eventually agreed.
The woman stopped several times during the walk to tell Kestell she was fine and could walk the rest of the way alone, but he insisted on walking with her.
After they reached Hartstown Park, the next thing the victim remembered was lying on the ground in agony. She realised she was being raped, and she then tried to fight off her attacker, who she realised was Kestell.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Doyle said she was asked in cross-examination why she didn’t immediately tell her partner when she got home after the rape.
She replied: ‘How silly of me not to follow the textbook of rules immediately after [being violently raped]... Who says what is right or wrong or how to behave after a sexual assault?’
She said society’s perceptions are ‘wrong’ and need to change.
She went on to thank the gardaí, prosecuting counsel and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
She also expressed her thanks to the jury who had ‘given me the chance to live again and be a mam, something I’ve not done or been able to do for the last four-and-a-half years’.
‘Not enough is done to protect victims’