Sleeping Woman Raped; Man Jailed For Eight Years With No Remorse
A sleeping woman raped by a man who came to her house for drinks the night before. At the time of the incident, the woman was sleeping with her husband and her newborn baby.
The man, Shaun O’Donnell, 34 years, is jailed for eight years. O’Donnell is from Woodlands Way, Leeds, UK. The woman held him responsible of one count of rape and sexual assault.
(Also read: Plan for Judges to Recommend Minimum Terms When Imposing Life Sentences in Ireland)
In addition, he is facing one more charge of sexual assault, which happened on March 26, 2021, in a Donegal residence. It was cited in the trial of the Central Criminal Court.
The Supreme Court prosecuting lawyer, Mark Lynam, was told by a Garda police officer that O’Donnell was with the man and woman the night before the assault. They had been having drinks at their place.
The next morning, the man climbed over the victim, into her bed beside her husband and newborn baby. It was then that the sleeping woman was raped.
The woman was unaware because she believed it might be her spouse. But as soon she realised that it was the perpetrator, she fled the room and locked herself up in the shower room. Afterwards, she told her husband and the family members.
O’Donnell stayed completely untroubled and did not show any humiliation after being convicted of the crime and jailed for eight years. He denied these allegations by saying that he does not remember anything. He told these details in a Garda interview.
The man was convicted for several complaints of dangerous driving and one of the assaults previously. He was also charged for two years and eight months regarding the previous sexual charge concurrently. He is employed by a British construction company.
A request made by sleeping woman raped
The woman requests that her name not be published anywhere on media and news. However, she wants everyone to know the name of the criminal.
Mr Justice David Keane told the press today after sentencing O’Donnell that the offence was a “fundamental, almost indescribable breach of trust”. The judge described the assault as a sheer breach of trust since the man was the one whom they trusted and invited him over for some drinks at their own place.
The man and wife did not know that O’Donnell would be the one destroying their days and nights in the presence of her husband as well as their baby.
Mr David Keane also expressed his disappointment that a house is a woman’s safe place where she finds all the security inside four walls, along with the company of her own man. However, it was a true state of failure for her that she was deprived of such “comfort and security” and was caused “grave harm” when she was raped.
While the proceedings of the current case of a sleeping woman raped were being carried out, O’Donnell consistently refused the verdicts and did not even feel any embarrassment while his name was being publicly called for such a despising act.
The judge elucidated that although O’Donnell did not show any memory snippets of the incident, it is still unlikely that such a person was stable at that time or was not intoxicated.
He was deemed by the judge to be at “low to moderate risk” of committing the same offence twice. It was based on the fact that O’Donnell does not have any repeating history of violent or sexual crimes.
After considering the minute details of the case, the judge punished him with eight years of jail sentence on one rape count. The personal circumstances and mitigating factors were taken into account with attention.
Further, the judge clarified that no “realistic prospect” of rehabilitation is enacted for now. Justice Keane added that there has been a certain “unease” for not imposing a period of post-release supervision on O’Donnell after his release from eight years of imprisonment.
O’Donnell verified that he would return to the UK after being released though.
