‘I will be alone all my life,’ says woman who woke up to find man raping her

A WOMAN who was raped while she was asleep has said she is so traumatised that she “will be alone for the rest of my life”.

In a victim impact statement, which she read before the Central Criminal Court, the woman said her life has been “hell” for more than three years since the rape.

“I blame myself for not being strong enough for my children,” the woman said.

She said she had felt and still feels like she has failed as a mother “for being in such a dark place”.

The woman said she felt as though she had been robbed of everything and did not feel like a woman any more.

She told the court that she cannot watch TV shows or films that have so much as a kiss in them. She also revealed that she wished one day she would be free of pain.

She said she would “never be able to move on” and she had to learn how to live every day.

“I know I will be alone for the rest of my life,” the woman said.

The 38-year-old rapist, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, had pleaded not guilty to an offence of rape at an address in Co Kildare on March 12, 2017.

He has one previous conviction for an assault.

In February this year, a jury returned a majority verdict of guilty on the sole count following a trial in the Central Criminal Court.

A local garda told Patrick Hanahoe BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, the woman was staying overnight at the house of her friend, who was the former partner of the accused man.

The garda said in the early hours of the morning, the woman woke up to find the accused man raping her. The woman was startled and asked him what he was doing.

The man replied with words to the effect of saying she “wanted it”.

At one point during the offence, the court was told, the rapist put his fingers over the woman’s lips, telling her that she must be quiet or the children sleeping in the house might hear.

After the rape, the man immediately left the house, the garda said.

It was put to the woman during the trial that she had had a consensual sexual encounter with the man a month prior to the incident and that the incident itself was also consensual. The woman denied both propositions.

The garda agreed with Orla Crowe SC, defending the rapist, that her client had now written a letter of apology to the victim. The woman does not accept this apology, the court was told.

Ms Crowe said that her client accepted the verdict of the jury. She said her client was “truly very sorry” and that he threw himself at the mercy of the court.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt adjourned the matter for finalisation on June 19.

‘I blame myself for not being strong enough for my children’