A Limerick man who violently sexually assaulted a Galway student has been jailed for 11 years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Edward Casey (43), O'Malley Park, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault and assault causing harm to the woman in the Loch a' tSáile area of Galway in September 2004.
Det Sgt Michael Coppinger said DNA matches from blood on clothes found in a recycling bin nearby and from samples recovered from the victim pointed to Casey as the culprit.
Det Sgt Coppinger said the victim had scratched Casey's face and drawn blood. He had obviously changed his clothes after the attack which indicated a measure of pre-planning. The discarded clothes were found by a caretaker who regularly checked what was in the bin.
Calls to Casey's mobile phone at the time of the assault were registered on a nearby aerial as from his partner in Limerick. Det Sgt Coppinger said Casey had 78 previous convictions for criminal damage, burglary, theft, unlawful taking of vehicles, assault, robbery and forgery.
Feargal Kavanagh SC, defending, said Casey offered unreserved apologies to the victim and to the court for his actions when his trial was due to be heard in March.
He said Casey had been abused by Christian Brothers at school and had now spent more time incarcerated than free with the result that "he knows little about life on the outside".
Mr Justice Carney certified Casey for registration as a sex offender and directed that he undergo seven years post-release supervision under the direction of the Probation Service.
Mr Justice Carney noted that Casey objected to him hearing the case when it came forward for trial in March but was told that was not his call and that he then "tried every trick in the book to derail his trial". The court had dealt firmly with him, resulting in his guilty plea.
"I have said before that I will not punish him for this but the last time I dealt firmly with someone playing 'ducks and drakes' with the court, the Court of Criminal Appeal found I had breached his human rights and set aside two firearms charges in a murder case," Mr Justice Carney said.
"It would take a good deal to convince me that there is protected human rights in trying to avoid trial by playing 'ducks and drakes' with the court."
The 23-year-old victim told the court that her life "was ripped in shreds by the hand of a stranger" as a result of Casey's attack.
"Not only was I denied my human rights," she said, "but I was violated both mentally and physically and left with permanent scars that will affect my life forever." She had never known what real fear was like before that night but her fear did not end on that night. "In fact, it has been like a dark shadow haunting me since."