Rapist who took pictures of victim jailed for 12 years
Richard Finn (20) of Rockfield Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin, leaving court yesterday after he was jailed for 12 years for the rape of a Polish woman in the grounds of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Scoil Mhuire,Convent Road, Clondalkin, last July
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A MAN who repeatedly raped a Polish woman in the grounds of a church has been jailed for 12 years.
A local priest acted as a referee for rapist Richard Finn (20), who subjected the woman to the ordeal, which lasted for more than two hours on July 22, 2007. During the attack, he used his mobile phone to photograph her. The phone was never recovered.
Finn, of Rockfield Drive, Clondalkin, Co Dublin, was soon nominated by gardai as the rapist from her description of him, as well as information arising out of two similar attacks on women around 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 forcibly held her in the grounds of the Church of Immaculate Conception and Scoil Mhuire until nearly 10am.
The victim 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.
At the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul Carney noted that this wasn't the first case to come before the court in which a foreign woman had been attacked on a public highway and raped.
Filming
Mr Justice Carney said that aggravating factors included Finn's filming of the victim's naked body and the distress caused to her by the fact that the camera phone he used had never been recovered.
He said she found the violence being perpetrated her on consecrated grounds especially distressing in view of her Catholic upbringing. There was also the multiplicity of the assaults, including a form of sex that she found particularly offensive.
Mr Justice Carney directed that Finn's name be added to the register of sex offenders and that he undergo five years' post-release supervision.
He said he was required by the Supreme Court to identify the range of penalties available to the court and where on that scale to place the crime before discounting on such matters of mitigation available.
Mr Justice Carney noted that, following a judgment by the Chief Justice, drink or drugs afforded no defence and little by way of mitigation, but he took account of Finn's early plea which, he said, meant the victim didn't have to travel back from Poland, though she would have done so if necessary.
He accepted also that Finn had indicated genuine remorse and his previous convictions were not significant. He directed that Finn be given credit for the time he has spent in custody since September 2007.
Earlier, 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 other parties he named.
Testimonials
Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins told Mr Justice Carney that the "referees" who provided the testimonials for Finn had been informed he had pleaded guilty to the rape for which he was to be sentenced and they hadn't written them "in a vacuum".
Mr O'Higgins said Finn had directed him to offer an apology to the victim through the court for what he did.
He said Finn had "co-operated willingly" with gardai at every stage of the investigation, leading to his guilty plea which counsel said "was a matter of substance and made at the first available opportunity".
He also noted reports that stated his client had suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in his formative years and suggested that people with ADHD were more likely to get into trouble with alcohol.
- Roisin Ni Mhuiris
