Rapist contests State’s exclusion order

A convicted rapist has brought a High Court challenge against the decision to remove and exclude him from the State.

The action has been brought by Latvian national Deniss Kovalenko, now aged 32, who was convicted of raping and orally raping an American student in Galway on Valentine’s night 2004.

Kovalenko, who had been living in Galway City, claims the decision by the minister for justice to remove and exclude him is unfair and amounts to a violation of his and his family’s rights under the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.