The man convicted of the murder Swiss student Manuela Riedo was out on bail for another offence when he killed her, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
Gardaí had opposed bail for Gerald Barry (29) when he appeared at Galway District Court and was charged with the assault of his former partner and breach of a custody order on August 19th 2007. He killed Ms Riedo seven weeks later.
He had also been arrested in connection with the rape of a French student on August 16th, 2007. The investigation into that incident was ongoing when he killed Ms Riedo.
Barry, who pleaded guilty to the oral and anal rape of the student, will be sentenced on Friday by Mr Justice Paul Carney in Galway.
He is already serving a life sentence for the murder of Ms Riedo. His victim, a 23-year-old French student, described Barry, who had a long list of previous convictions, as a "human predator".
"What can I say, I'm just another person on his list. He doesn't feel sorry or concerned about what he did to me," she said in a victim impact statement which was read out in court.
"I wonder how he can sleep at night, eating, sleeping, breathing, listening to music and so on.
"I'm conscious of what he did to me and other. He is not human or a man. He is a liar, a rapist and a murderer. He has to be punished for what he did."
The victim begged the court not to let him on the street "as many innocent lives could be broken again".
Prosecution counsel Paul Burns said Barry attacked the French student as she was returning from listening to a traditional music session in a Galway pub on the night of August 16th.
He attacked her in Mervue, grabbed her by the hair and placed what she felt was a knife under her throat. He dragged her into the St James GAA pitch in Mervue. He orally and anally raped her and took her money.
He also threatened to kill her and raped her again.
Mr Burns said the woman went to accident and emergency at the University Hospital in Galway on the following day but was so traumatised that she had to write down the fact that she had been raped. She then went to the gardaí.
Barry was arrested by gardaí after his ex-partner had complained to them that he had assaulted her on the same night. The assault occurred after he raped the French student and happened in the same area, the court was told.
Detective Sergeant Gerald Roche from Galway Garda Station said gardaí arrested Barry at his parent's house and took a top with blood stains on it from his home.
They arrested Barry in connection with the rape on August 18th and questioned him, but "no evidential value" came from the evidence.
Mr Burns told Mr Justice Paul Carney that the maximum sentence for rape was life. Martin Giblin, counsel for Barry, urged the judge not to impose a life sentence.
He said Barry had shown a degree of co-operation by giving a mouth swab for DNA purposes and had pleaded guilty to the offence sparing the victim the trauma of having to give evidence.
Mr Giblin said many of Barry's crimes occurred as a result of his drink and drugs abuse and he had no memory of the incident in question.
He had also had time to reflect in prison on his actions and "deeply regretted" how his actions had impacted on the lives of others.
