A man who raped a Limerick woman in the west of the city has been jailed for nine years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
Emmanuel Ashibougwu (26), with an address at The Square, Annacotty, Limerick, is currently serving a seven-year sentence for possession of heroin valued €500,000. The court had heard Ashibougwu was convicted at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on February 20th, 2006, of having the heroin on O'Connell Avenue in the city on August 18th, 2005.
Ashibougwu was convicted by a jury in November of raping the 20-year-old woman in the early hours of the morning of December 27th, 2004 at a car park in the Punches Cross area.
He had pleaded not guilty to the rape charge and claimed in evidence that they had consensual sex.
Mr Justice Carney said the nine-year sentence, dated from November 30th, 2006, was lower than he had intended as a result of two points raised by Ms Isobel Kennedy SC, defending, that none of the usual aggravating factors featured in this case and that Ashibougwu had co-operated "procedurally" with the trial by conceding that sexual intercourse had taken place.
Ms Kennedy submitted that as a result of defence concessions, the only issue was one of consent.
Mr Justice Carney noted that Ashibougwu by maintaining his innocence "was already on his way to the Court of Criminal Appeal" and the court therefore couldn't consider remorse as a factor in his favour.