A Lithuanian has been jailed for six years for the oral rape of a German woman in Galway city almost four years ago.
Darius Savickis, (39 ) of Garran Ard, Doughiska, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to oral rape of the then 23-year-old woman on November 28, 2005.
A bench warrant was issued for Savickis’ arrest last July after he failed to appear for his trial. He was remanded in custody after was brought back to Ireland on foot of a European arrest warrant when gardaí discovered he had absconded to Scotland. He later changed his plea to guilty.
Mr Justice Paul Carney said he took into account Savickis’ guilty plea and the fact that he will face particular difficulties in jail as a foreign national.
Detective Sergeant Michael Coppinger told prosecuting counsel Michael Durack SC (with Caroline Biggs BL ) that the victim was on her way home from work when she was grabbed from behind and knocked to the ground.
Savickis had her held in such a way that she could not turn around and see his face. He opened her trousers but she told him she had her period so he forced her to touch his penis before making her perform oral sex on him.
Det Sgt Coppinger said after the assault Savickis kissed the woman on top of her head twice, tidied himself up and walked slowly down the road.
The victim went home where she met her flatmate. She had difficulty communicating what had just happened to her so she got a dictionary and pointed out the word “rape”.
Det Sgt Coppinger said DNA was later extracted from semen stains found on the hood of the woman’s jacket.
The profile this generated was later compared to a number of local suspects but they were soon eliminated. Gardaí identified Savickis as the culprit after his DNA profile was circulated to the English police and matched a profile detained by them on their database.
Savickis was arrested and denied any knowledge of the crime or the area but he was later advised by gardaí that he had been previously arrested in a nearby car park for a public order offence.
Det Sgt Coppinger told Mr Durack that Savickis was re-arrested in January 2007 where he again denied the offence in garda interview. He was charged the following May and replied after caution: “This lady never saw me. I want to see her”.
Savickis had eight previous convictions for road traffic and theft offence. He has an 18-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and his current partner was pregnant with their child at the time of this offence.
Det Sgt Coppinger said the victim has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She got married in 2007 and has since left Ireland.
Det Sgt Coppinger agreed with defence counsel, Isobel Kennedy SC, that if it had not been for the DNA evidence there would not have been a prosecution in the case.
He accepted that the DNA profile in England arose from his arrest for a minor conviction for which he was never charged.
Ms Kennedy told Mr Justice Carney that her client had a serious amount of alcohol taken on that night but he is insisting that this not be used as an excuse for his behaviour that night. She said that he deeply regrets the trauma he has caused his victim.
Ms Kennedy said that a medical report before the court indicated that Savickis was at risk of developing brain damage if he continued to drink heavily and that he has been advised to get an MRI scan on his brain to investigate this further.
She told Mr Justice Carney that her client accepts the DNA evidence in the case but has no recollection of the offence.
