A Wicklow man who broke into his former partner's home and raped her has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
The man (34) pleaded guilty to five counts of rape, oral and anal rape, assault causing harm and criminal damage in Co Wicklow on February 24th, 2003.
Mr Justice Carney imposed eight-year terms for each of the three rape charges, three years for assault causing harm and 18 months for the criminal damage.
He said the evidence that the man had consumed 14 pints before committing the crimes was not a form of mitigation in these courts.
"People have to take responsibility for what they do after 14 pints," said Mr Justice Carney, who directed the sentences to run concurrently.
Mr Justice Carney certified the man as a sex offender, and ordered that he undergo four years of post-release supervision. He suspended the final 18 months of the rape sentences due to the early guilty plea, which he said freed a slot for the trial of another violent person.
Garda Seamus Muldowney told senior counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley, prosecuting, that the man smashed glass window doors to gain entrance to the victim's apartment, where there was a barring order against him.
He pushed her onto the bed, slapped her, tied her up, and threatened to kill her. He then dragged her to the sitting room and raped her. He took her back to the bedroom and raped her again. Garda Muldowney said the terrified woman succeeded in reaching her kitchen, where she phoned the Garda, and Garda Muldowney and a colleague arrived within minutes.
When the man was arrested later he claimed the sex acts were consensual.