Dublin man given 20 years for raping two women
A Dublin man who raped two women after breaking into their homes has been sentenced to twenty years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court.
David McCartan (aged 21) of Casement Road, Finglas, pleaded guilty to two charges each of rape and burglary to commit rape and one charge of oral rape on May 3, 2007 and August 31, 2008. He had previous convictions for minor public order offences.
Mr Justice Carney jailed him for 10 years for each rape to run consecutively. He also ordered 10 years post-release supervision.
He commented that there was a credible threat to kill in the first rape and he had "permanently disrupted and, in fact, ruined both women's lives."
"It is a highly aggravating factor in the first case that the accused disclosed that he had planned the violation for some time and had been awaiting his opportunity," Mr Justice Carney said.
"It took place in what should have been the comfort and security of their own homes, particularly in the first case where she lived with her children."
In sentencing he took into account McCartan's early guilty plea, remorse and young age.
In the first offence, a 41-year-old mother of two had woken up to find McCartan standing in her bedroom. She had been attending her aunt's funeral earlier that day and had gone to bed early because she was feeling ill. She was alone in the house at the time.
McCartan put his hand over her mouth, pushed her back on the bed, told her to stay quiet and raped her. He told her afterwards "I've wanted to do you for a long time" before he threatened to kill her children if she reported him to the gardaí.
That woman told the court last Monday that she had tried to kill herself seven months after the rape because she did want to live anymore.
The year after this rape, while on bail for this offence, McCartan climbed into a third story flat where he raped a 21-year-old girl having beaten up her boyfriend and dragged her from their bedroom. He was armed with a fork at the time that he had taken from their kitchen.
The victim later told gardaí that she could clearly see the name "David" tattooed on the man's arm but he had his face covered with a bandana.
The 41-year-old woman read from her victim impact statement that she had taken an overdose in December 2007.
She said that on the night of the rape she had wanted to stay alive "not for me but for my children" but said that since then there had been times when she wished she had died that night, "so I could get some peace".
"The day my aunt died I was raped. It will always be connected with that. I never grieved for my aunt," the woman said.
"My son is angry with himself that he was not able to protect me and my daughter locks her door and pushes things against it. I did not feel safe in my own home," the woman continued.
She told Mr Justice Carney that she has since moved out of Dublin, from the area where she grew up and from the house where she had brought up her children.
"I don't want to move back to Dublin to the likes of him and all the antisocial behaviour," the woman said as she pointed at McCartan. "It is quiet where I live now."
She thanked Detective Garda John Walsh whom she said had showed so much compassion and made sure her case was heard. She also thanked her family and the Director of Public Prosecutions "for believing me".
Detective Garda Adrian Mulligan read from the victim impact report of the second woman, in which she stated that the rape had "destroyed" her life. She "went out of control" after the attack and started drinking two bottles of Vodka a day "to stop thinking about it and to get through the day".
She said she could not understand why McCartan had done that to her and she hoped that she would be able to put the incident behind her "in years to come".
Mr Thomas Creed SC (with Ms Melanie Greally BL), prosecuting, said the DPP put the offences at the "serious end of the scale" taking into account the fact that McCartan had first broken into both women's homes.
Ms Donnelly asked Mr Justice Carney to accept that while both women were left in "a huge amount of fear", McCartan had not used a weapon in the first offence and had picked up the fork from the other women's apartment rather than bringing it to the house with him.
She said her client had written a letter to the court expressing his sincere apologies to the victims which stated that he now understood the impacts his crimes had on them both and that they would have to deal with this for the rest of their lives.
McCartan also apologised to his family, his partner and his seven-month-old son and said that he hoped he could undergo courses while in custody that would help him never to re-offend.
Ms Donnelly said that her client had started abusing cocaine, steroids and alcohol the year before the rapes.
