A RICKSHAW driver who left a young woman severely injured in a lane way after raping and assaulting her has been jailed for 13 years.

Rafael Tiso (31), from Brazil, was captured on CCTV leaving a nightclub with the intoxicated victim and walking with her down a side street before going into a lane with her. He left the lane 40 minutes later and returned to drink in the same bar for over an hour.

A passer-by heard a moaning noise and discovered the woman lying on the ground between a truck and a car with her legs spread apart. The man believed the woman was dead at first as her eyes were closed and he did not want to touch her to contaminate the scene.

He saw blood on the ground beside her. The woman's clothing and hair were soaking wet. Gardaí were alerted and the woman taken to hospital.

The 23 year old victim, who can not recall anything of the incident, suffered severe injuries.

Tiso, who was living in rented accommodation at Offaly Road, Cabra, Dublin pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to rape, oral rape, aggravated sexual assault and assault causing harm to the woman at Montague Lane, Dublin on January 18, 2016. He has no previous convictions and has been in custody since his arrest.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said that this was a violent and callous crime perpetrated on a vulnerable inebriated young woman. She said the victim's restrained impact report showed how the attack would affect her for the rest of his life.

She said the fact that Tiso had left the woman in such a dreadful state and the severe emotional and mental impact of his attack were aggravating factors.

She suspended the final year of a 14 year sentence on condition that Tiso leave the State on his release for a period of ten years.

Garda Chris Fitzgerald told Martina Baxter BL, prosecuting, that the woman had been socialising in a nightclub and was described as very intoxicated and incoherent. She had taken an ecstasy tablet.

She was seen on the CCTV being escorted out by security and accompanied by Tiso, who helped her out of the club. A young man passing by about 40 minutes later discovered the woman in “a shocking condition” in the lane way, Ms Justice Kennedy said.

Tiso had returned to the nightclub and remained there for a further hour and a half. The woman was taken to hospital and staff were concerned that she may have been sexually assaulted. She had no memory of events, only recalling being in the nightclub and later seeing a flash light in her face when she was found.

The young woman was found to have injuries which required surgery. She also had numerous lacerations and bruising. Gardaí began an investigation and recovered the CCTV footage showing Tiso with the victim.

Tiso, who was working as a rickshaw driver in the Harcourt Street area, was nominated as a suspect and interviewed. He claimed he had consensual sex with the woman.

Tiso told gardai in his final interview that he really regretted taking advantage of her. Ms Justice Kennedy noted that his expression of remorse was motivated to a degree by remorse for how these events were impacting on his life.

Ms Justice Kennedy said the physical damage caused to the victim was appalling.

In her victim impact report the woman said “something terrible happened to me” and described it like being “an episode of a horror series.” She said she sometimes felt as if she is in a nightmare and tried not to think about what happened.

She said she would like to “delete that day” and described “a daily fight between going forward or making a martyr of myself.”

Caroline Biggs SC, defending, said Tiso came from a small town in Brazil where he worked hard in school and college before securing a job in a bank. He continued to study for a masters at night-time before coming to Ireland to study English.

She said Tiso had been on anti-anxiety medication at the time and had been working long hours. She said he had been isolated and alienated from his family.

A psychological report concluded that he was at a moderate to low risk of re-offending and that he didn't have an inappropriate attitude towards women. Letters from former girlfriends spoke of normal sexual and respectful relationships.

Ms Biggs asked Ms Justice Kennedy to accept that her client’s actions on the night were “utterly out of character” and suggested that he may not have been used to drinking heavily and had eaten very little that day.

Online Editors