A 25-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for what the court described as the "horrific" rapes of a young Spanish girl in Dublin last year.

Eoin Berkley pleaded guilty to three counts of rape.

He also threatened to kill the then 18-year-old woman and falsely imprisoned her during an ordeal which lasted 21 hours on 15 and 16 July 2017.

Mr Justice Michael White said the offences were at the extreme end of the crime of rape which was already a very serious crime.

The court heard the young woman was from a small Spanish town and had come to Ireland to learn English.

She was described as "innocent and naive" and from a protective family.

She met Berkley on the boardwalk at Eden Quay in Dublin on 15 July 2017.

He offered to show her the beach, but instead took her to some tents at a derelict site at the Irish Glass Bottle Factory land in Dublin 4.

Over 21 hours, he raped her on three separate occasions, threatened to cut off her hands, gave her tablets and strangled her on several occasions.



He said he had already killed six people and she would be the seventh.

The woman eventually managed to escape and rang her father in Spain as she fled. She found help at a nearby house.

Mr Justice White said Berkley's behaviour changed as soon as he got the young woman to the tents.

The first incident of rape involved 19 instances of violence or threats of violence.

He told her that shouting for help would make him more motivated and if she ran he said he would hit her on the head with a rock.

The judge said that after this rape, she was so terrorised that she effectively became a prisoner for 21 hours.

He said she showed compassion to others as she was afraid to ask for help from anyone as she thought she might put strangers in a position of danger.

He said all three instances of rape were accompanied by quite extreme degradation.

The judge said the conclusion he had come to was that the offences involved premeditation and planning.

Berkley had approached this young girl, talked to her and lied to her.

He had exploited an innocent, naive girl and had threatened her with "blood curdling threats" which she believed would be carried out.

The offences had had a severe impact on the young girl and her parents.

In mitigation, the judge said he had to take into account the tragic history of Eoin Berkley and his mental health difficulties.

He said reports handed into court made grim reading.

Berkley was taken into care at around 15 months old and placed into various care settings. He was kicked out of school at the age of 12 for "extreme violence" and never went back or had a job.

When the doctor examined him and tried to carry out certain psychological tests, the judge said Berkley became aggressive and agitated and threatened the doctor with physical harm and the judge said he was not optimistic about the prospects of rehabilitation.

The doctor found Berkley had a significantly compromised development and suffered from a severe personality disorder.

The judge imposed a total sentence of 14 years.

He said it was unfortunate that such a young person was going to prison for so long, but these were "most horrific" crimes involving the degradation of an innocent person and Berkley had to bear total personal responsibility for that.

He imposed a period of three years post-release supervision.