Polish man gets 8 years for oral rape

A POLISH man was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday for raping and assaulting a Mayo woman last year.

Woychiech Kasprzak, aged 25, with an address at The Orchards, Dock Road, Limerick, pleaded guilty to orally raping the woman and assaulting her causing her harm in Castlebar, Co Mayo, on July 13, 2007.

The Central Criminal Court had heard that Kasprzak was working in Castlebar with his employer on a contract at the time.

Detective Sergeant James Carroll told the court the victim had seen a man urinating in the bushes while she walked through the church car park in the town at about 4.30pm before she was attacked from behind and dragged.

Kasprzak told her not to shout while he pushed her to the ground and began to unbuckle her trousers. She feared he was going to rape her and pleaded with him not to. Det Sgt Carroll said Kasprzak forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Sentencing Kasprzak yesterday, Mr Justice Paul Carney declared the accused a sex offender as required by law.

He said he took into account a number of factors against the accused, including the inherent gravity of the offence, the effect on the victim and the submission by the DPP that the offence was at the top end of the scale.

He said he also took into account factors in favour of the accused, including an early guilty plea, his remorse, the fact that he had a supportive family in Poland and the difficulties he would face, as a foreign national, in an Irish prison.

He said the offence merited a 12-year jail term, but taking the factors in Kasprzak’s favour into account, which he was required to do, he sentenced him to eight years in prison, from the date of his arrest.

He jailed him for five years for the assault charge, and said it should run together with the rape sentence.

On the question whether to order post-release supervision, Mr Justice Carney said he had “absolutely no reason to doubt” Kasprzak had a supportive family in Poland, who were “waiting to rehabilitate him” on release.

He said he did not want to inhibit this path and made no order for post-release supervision.