A Dublin taxi driver has been sentenced to 17 years in jail for the rape of two young passengers in the back of his taxi on separate nights two years ago, meaning he will serve a total of 30 years for his repeated sexual offending.
Raymond Shorten (50) of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of anal rape by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month.
Shorten had pleaded not guilty to the rape and anal rape of a 19-year-old woman on June 26th, 2022, and to the rape of another woman, then aged 20, a couple of months later on August 9th, 2022.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed nine years in relation to one victim and eight years for the rape of the second. These will run consecutively.
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Earlier this week, Shorten received a 13-year-sentence for raping a girl twice when she was seven or eight years old on dates more than 10 years ago.
In that case, Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo said the fact Raymond Shorten first raped the girl days after her mother’s death showed he was “utterly lacking” in compassion and “could not care less” about the hurt, violation and long-term impact of his actions on her.
The sentence imposed for the attacks on the taxi passengers will begin after the expiration of the sentence for the rape of the young girl. This means the total term Shorten will be expected to serve is 30 years in prison, minus any remission that is applied.
Mr Justice McDermott said the previous sexual offending was an aggravating factor in the current case.
He said it is clear Shorten remains a danger to others and noted the breach of trust in targeting women who expected to be safe and secure in getting a taxi.
The judge said the women had made the reasonable assumption that getting in a taxi was the safest way to get home after a night out. Women are forced to take these steps to minimise the risks they face when going out to enjoy themselves, he said.
“It is a poor reflection of the safety of women in our society,” Mr Justice McDermott said.
People have a level of trust in the taxi service which is reflected in the many stories of great kindness shown by taxi drivers to members of the public, the judge said.
These drivers would regard Shorten’s actions as a “gross betrayal,” he said.
The judge said Shorten remains a danger to society and that there were few mitigating factors in his favour.
Geraldine Small SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutors, asked that a headline sentence of 10-15 years be considered for the offences relating to the taxi passengers.
One of the women had not even hailed a taxi on the night in question, and CCTV showed Shorten driving around before stopping the taxi beside her, counsel said. One of women told the judge she got a taxi home “to be safe” but experienced the “worst nightmare”. She continues to suffer anxiety and trust issues as a result of being raped by Raymond Shorten when she was aged 20, the Central Criminal Court heard. What happened to her was “every parent’s worst nightmare” and her parents were also badly affected.
The prosecution case was each woman found themselves in a taxi after a night out socialising in Dublin city centre where each was raped by the driver, Shorten.
In her evidence, the first woman said she drank five pints of cider, an amount she was not used to, on the night of June 25th, 2022.
She described gaps in her memory of her journey home. She recalled waking up in the front passenger seat of a car in the early hours, with a man driving. She said he moved her to the back seat where he raped her anally and vaginally before returning her to the driver’s seat and dropping her near her home.
The second woman said she was tired and drunk after going for drinks in Dublin city centre on August 8th, 2022. She fell asleep in the back of a taxi and the next thing she remembered was waking up as the driver was raping her. She said she was in shock and didn’t know how to fight back. He had asked for €70 for the taxi fare, she said.
Shorten denied rape and said the sexual interactions between him and each of the women was consensual. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.
In a victim impact report, one of the women who was aged 19 when raped said: “It’s messed with my intimate life as that was my first time, I was a virgin. I’d say I’ve made some poor decisions around my dating and intimate life because of it.”
She has lost confidence, is uncomfortable in taxis and “a lot of men in the room is enough to panic me”.
”I’ve lost my ability to feel carefree and safe in the streets, and I get flashbacks. It’s sickening and unsettling.”
In her statement, the second woman said she developed bad feelings of anxiety after the rape, still finds it a challenge to deal with her everyday anxiety and also experienced nightmares and countless sleepless nights.The night of August 8th, 2022, “has dramatically changed my life in so many ways”.
She never thought something like that would happen, was always told to get a taxi but what she thought was the safe thing to do turned out to be the “worst nightmare”.
Her only memory of Shorten is his “thick Dublin accent” and she finds it “triggering” when she hears similar accents. While she still tries to enjoy nights out, they “end in tears” because what Shorten did to her “is constantly in my thoughts”.
Two years of her 20s, which are “meant to be the best days of my life”, have been “taken away from me”. Her family too has suffered. “A parent’s worst nightmare is for their child to come home and say they have been raped.”
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