A “DANGEROUS sexual predator” has been jailed for seven years with the final six months suspended after being convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman.
Denis O’Donovan (38), a father of one from Ballyryan, Donohill, County Tipperary, had pleaded not guilty to five criminal offences at his trial last April.
However, a jury found him guilty of four offences, including one count of false imprisonment, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of assault causing harm. The jury failed to reach a verdict on one alleged sexual assault.
Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard Mr O’Donovan drove to a woman’s house, situated in an isolated rural area of County Limerick, on the night of January 17, 2020, and knocked on the front door of her property.
When the woman opened the door, the court heard, there was nobody there but when she went to investigate the presence of a car with its engine running and its headlights on in the front yard, Mr O’Donovan “pulled” her into the car.
Mr O’Donovan drove himself and the woman at speed to an isolated lay-by where he sexually assaulted her while choking her in his car.
He “put his arm around her throat and flung her between two seats, she was terrified,” Judge Dermot Sheahan said.
“She was crying and shouting and praying to god that he would stop, she said she thought she was going to die.”
Judge Sheehan said Mr O’Donovan used “significant violence” during the sexual attack.
“The victim was terrified and that trauma has stayed with her.”
The judge said Mr O’Donovan “restrained and choked” the victim while sexually assaulting her.
The victim suffered bruising to her throat and private parts in the attacks, as well as cuts and scars when she jumped into a ditch and hid from Mr O’Donovan after escaping the car.
Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley BL said Mr O’Donovan kept the victim in his car “against her will”, pulled down her underwear and repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
Terrifying, traumatising, degrading, and disgusting
After his arrest, during Garda questioning, Mr O’Donovan immediately placed himself at the woman’s house, but wrongly claimed he was there to drop off cannabis.
He was eventually charged after forensic tests resulted in his DNA being found in salvia discharge found on clothing worn by the woman on the night.
DNA results provided in court from tests conducted by Forensic Science Ireland “strongly supported” the prosecution’s case.
Mr O’Donovan, who has an addiction to alcohol, had consumed five pints of stout and four cans of cider prior to calling to the woman’s home.
Reading a victim impact statement to the court, the woman said it had been an “absolutely terrifying, traumatising, degrading, and disgusting” ordeal.
“I was dragged into his car, driven at speed down the road, and had to try to escape by jumping out of a moving car, only for him to grab me with both hands, choking me violently, pinning me down with one hand on my throat while he sexually assaulted me in a disgusting, degrading way.
“No words can ever fully describe the absolute terror of being choked and believing I was going to die.
“After the attack I couldn’t eat or sleep, I used to stay awake at night listening for fear of him returning.”
The woman shared that she has experienced suicidal ideation after the attack, and that she had “changed from being a happy confident person who loved the outdoors, hiking, and walking to not being able to leave my house for years.”
“After all of this, for him to put me through a trial, which was so daunting as I had never been to court in my life before all of this, to have to sit and listen to his outrageous and disgusting lies, felt like another attack.
“He may be going to jail, but I feel like I’ve been in jail the last four years,” she said.
The judge lifted reporting restrictions in respect of Mr O’Donovan in May, after the woman told the court that “he is a dangerous sexual predator and everyone should know his name”.
Mr O’Donovan, who had 39 previous convictions, was on bail at the time for aggravated burglary and criminal damage, in which he smashed his way into another woman’s house using an axe and chased her upstairs, but left the house without harming the woman as she was not the intended target, and for which he later received a three-year suspended sentence.
Judge Sheehan said Mr O’Donovan had been hugely impacted by the death of his mother when he was four years old, and his family were still prepared to support him when he gets out of prison.
After passing sentence on Mr O’Donovan, Judge Sheahan said he must attend an alcohol rehab course to deal with his addiction.
The judge said he was not imposing a post-release supervision order and placed Mr O’Donovan on a “sex offenders register” for an indefinite period.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800 77 8888, or access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline.
