A man who raped and beat-up his girlfriend in her home after they had attended her brother's wedding has had his sentence adjourned at the Central Criminal Court to next Monday.
Mr Martin Giblin SC, defending, told the court his client had been sexually abused "in bizarre circumstances by his older sister" and also sexually abused by an employer.
The 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of rape and assault causing harm to his then girlfriend on July 4th, 1998 in her Dublin suburban home.
He had no previous convictions.
Mr Justice Smith was told the man threatened to kill himself after the assault by slashing his wrists with a steak-knife. He had also tried to drown himself. The man told gardai that as they both walked down the road after the assault, the victim told him: "There is no reason for anyone to die, we'll sort it out".
She then left in a taxi. Det Garda Kieran McEneaney told Mr John Edwards SC (with Mr Hugo Hynes), prosecuting, the incident occurred after the couple had attended the victim's brother's wedding reception at Jury's Hotel in Ballsbridge. He said the couple had consumed a lot of alcohol and had taken a taxi back to her family home where the 27-year old victim told the accused she was tired and wanted to go to sleep.
He told her he wanted to make love. When she replied she just wanted to cuddle he went "mad", smashing an ironing board against the fireplace and punching her hard several times across the face.
Det Garda McEneaney said she clutched a broken chair and struck him on the head in self-defence but he pulled her violently to the floor where he then put both his hands around her neck and squeezed hard until she found it difficult to breath.
She managed to break free but he grabbed her again, pinned her to the floor and raped her. He then threatened to kill her and she feared for her life until she managed to calm him down.
Det Garda McEneaney said he repeatedly apologised saying to her: "Look what I've done to you" and got a packet of frozen peas from a freezer to place on her swollen face.
The defendant told gardai that when his girlfriend didn't want to make love he "freaked and went mental".
He admitted he grabbed her violently, badly beat her, had anal sex with her and that he put his hands around her neck.
Det Garda McEneaney said the man blamed a combination of alcohol and his short-temper for acting the way he did. He said he had no intention of using the knife on himself or the victim.
Mr Giblin (with Mr Peter Finlay SC) said his client was remorseful and deeply regretted the incident. He had a "shockingly" violent and abusive background and had been the subject of vicious assaults at the hands of his father. He said his client wanted to make it clear that his girlfriend's account of the incident had been completely accurate.
Det Garda McEneaney said the victim was now scared and said: "The incident doesn't fade away like the bruising".