A Lithuanian man has been jailed for 12 years by Mr Justice Barry White at the Central Criminal Court for raping a Polish woman in Waterford last year.
Artion Dmitrikov (22), Viking House Hostel, South Anne Street, Waterford was unanimously found guilty by a jury in January of raping her in her home on March 19th, 2006.
"He was like an animal. I couldn't imagine a person being so violent and I thought I would die from a heart attack," the 27-year-old Polish woman told Det Garda Joe Shorthall in a victim impact statement.
The jury also found Dmitrikov guilty of assault causing harm to the woman on the same date but not guilty of sexually assaulting her.
Mr Justice White had also directed the jury before it began its deliberations to find Dmitrikov not guilty of threatening to kill the complainant on the same date.
Dmitrikov, who pleaded not guilty to the charges and gave evidence denying the allegations, still maintains his innocence, defence counsel, Jeremy Maher SC (with Robert O'Neill), said. He had 11 previous convictions since coming to Ireland three years ago.
Mr Justice White said he could not impose any additional penalty on Dmitrikov for exercising his right to trial of the issue and to maintaining his innocence but the effect of his stance was he deprived himself of any meaningful consideration that would lead to the court "giving you a far lesser sentence than I will impose".
Dr Dorothy Maxwell told Shane Murphy SC (with Anne Rowland), prosecuting, that DNA on swabs taken from the woman's thigh and vagina matched the DNA profile of Dmitrikov.