‘Dangerous sexual predator’ jailed for imprisoning and sexually assaulting woman

'Dangerous sexual predator' Denis O'Donovan.

A โ€œDANGEROUS sexual predatorโ€ has been jailed for seven years with the final six months suspended after being convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman.

Denis Oโ€™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 Oโ€™Donovan drove to a womanโ€™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.

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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 Oโ€™Donovan โ€œpulledโ€ her into the car.

Mr Oโ€™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 โ€œput his arm around her throat and flung her between two seats, she was terrified,โ€ Judge Dermot Sheahan said.

โ€œShe was crying and shouting and praying to god that he would stop, she said she thought she was going to die.โ€

Judge Sheehan said Mr Oโ€™Donovan used โ€œsignificant violenceโ€ during the sexual attack.

โ€œThe victim was terrified and that trauma has stayed with her.โ€

The judge said Mr Oโ€™Donovan โ€œrestrained and chokedโ€ 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 Oโ€™Donovan after escaping the car.

Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley BL said Mr Oโ€™Donovan kept the victim in his car โ€œagainst her willโ€, pulled down her underwear and repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

Terrifying, traumatising, degrading, and disgusting

After his arrest, during Garda questioning, Mr Oโ€™Donovan immediately placed himself at the womanโ€™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 โ€œstrongly supportedโ€ the prosecutionโ€™s case.

Mr Oโ€™Donovan, who has an addiction to alcohol, had consumed five pints of stout and four cans of cider prior to calling to the womanโ€™s home.

Reading a victim impact statement to the court, the woman said it had been an โ€œabsolutely terrifying, traumatising, degrading, and disgustingโ€ ordeal.

โ€œI 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.

โ€œNo words can ever fully describe the absolute terror of being choked and believing I was going to die.

โ€œAfter the attack I couldn’t eat or sleep, I used to stay awake at night listening for fear of him returning.โ€

The woman shared that she has experienced suicidal ideation after the attack, and that she had โ€œchanged from being a happy confident person who loved the outdoors, hiking, and walking to not being able to leave my house for years.โ€

โ€œAfter 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.

โ€œHe may be going to jail, but I feel like I’ve been in jail the last four years,โ€ she said.

The judge lifted reporting restrictions in respect of Mr Oโ€™Donovan in May, after the woman told the court that โ€œhe is a dangerous sexual predator and everyone should know his nameโ€.

Mr Oโ€™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 womanโ€™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 Oโ€™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 Oโ€™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 Oโ€™Donovan on a โ€œsex offenders registerโ€ 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.