Garda probe launched as to why case was not properly investigated

A Garda investigation has been launched into a failure to properly investigate an allegation by a Polish woman that she was raped and sexually assaulted while being held against her will in her assailant’s apartment.

The HSE is also investigating a complaint into the incident as the woman, who has poor English, claims she was not examined for sexual assault, despite reporting to having been attacked. Medical records dating from the incident back up the woman’s claim.

Since the incident in 2006, Anna Bubula, 46, has received extensive treatment at a rape crisis centre and has displayed a litany of post-traumatic symptoms that are usually associated with victims of violent sexual assault.

In 2006, she travelled to a town in the west of Ireland to meet a man who had given her the impression that he could secure work for her in his family’s business.

The next day, he became verbally abusive. Ms Bubula said he locked her in his apartment and refused to let her leave before putting her through an ordeal of violence and sexual assault that lasted a number of hours.

PJ McEvoy, a former general secretary and former president of the Prison Officers’ Association, has represented Ms Bubula since becoming familiar with her story.

“The extent of the brutal rape and assault on this lady is one of the worst cases I can recall in my period associated with the criminal justice system,” he said.

“All women who suffer such horrific crimes must have the full support of the State and the criminal justice system.”

An investigation of the case by the Irish Examiner has uncovered a trail that suggests a breakdown in both Garda and medical services. Among these are:

- An apparent failure by medical staff to report to the gardaí an allegation of rape;

- Gardaí not following up on the case, despite having attended at the scene when an ambulance was called for the woman;

- No record of arrest of the suspect at the scene;

- No interpreter present when the victim gave a statement to the gardaí;

- No effort to collect evidence about the alleged crime.

After the assault and Ms Bubula’s discharge from hospital, there was no effort to investigate untilher landlord contacted gardaí to ask what was happening.

There was no request for Ms Bubula’s medical records for 10 months, and such a request only came at the direction of the DPP.

Even after the acquisition of Ms Bubula’s medical records, there was no further investigation into whether or not a sexual assault had taken place.

Three years after the incident, a man was processed through the courts, where he received a non-custodial sentence. The alleged assailant was ultimately charged with assault causing harm, to which he pleaded guilty.

READ MORE:  Special Report: ’He started to beat me hard. He told me I will break your face’