Judge: Case most grievous sexual assault I have ever seen
A Polish man who raped a woman after tying her boyfriend up with rope and duct tape has been given five life sentences by Mr Justice Peter Charleton at the Central Criminal Court.
Edward Piotrowski (aged 45), with an address at Clonmullen Hall, Edenderry, Co Offaly, told the woman, during the two and half hour ordeal, that he was going to kill her, her partner and his daughter.
He told her he had previously stolen her keys and copied them so he could gain access to the house.
Mr Justice Charelton described the attack on the couple, in which she was sexually assaulted in front of her boyfriend before she was taken to another room and raped and forced to perform oral sex, as the "most grievous sexual assault I have ever come across in my career".
He registered Piotrowski as a sex offender but when asked to consider post-release supervision by Mr Fergal Foley BL, prosecuting, he said he did not intend for the former army officer to ever be released.
He described the offence as one that "beggars belief, astonishing and horrible". He said the victim impact reports, which were not read out in court, made harrowing reading and proved the long-lasting affects Piotrowski crimes had on the couple.
Mr Justice Charleton said Piotrowski had behaved in an "insane way" and had gathered together information before going to the couple's home with the equipment to tie them up.
He sentenced Piotrowski to five concurrent life sentences for the false imprisonment of the woman, the three sexual assaults and the rape. Piotrowski was also jailed for other concurrent terms of 10, five and 10 years for the aggravated burglary and the assault and false imprisonment of the man.
Piotrowski had been convicted by a jury last October of rape and oral rape of the woman on November 25, 2007.
Piotrowski was also found guilty by the jury of entering the house as a trespasser while armed with a bladed weapon and a weapon capable of discharging a noxious liquid gas, false imprisonment of both the woman and her boyfriend, aggravated sexual assault and raping the woman with a vibrator on the same date.
He pleaded guilty on the day of his trial to assault causing harm to the man on the same date. He had no previous convictions in either Ireland or Poland.
Mr Foley told the court that this was a very well organised and planned attack on the couple and that Piotrowski had been annoyed about the new relationship the man and woman had formed because he had "unrequited love" for her.
He said the raider wore a mask, plastic covers on his feet and gloves "designed to minimise the possibility of leaving any forensic evidence behind".
Piotrowski was armed with a knife, which he used to slash the back, shoulders and torso of the woman's boyfriend, and a noxious gas that he sprayed in the man's face to waken him from his sleep in the middle of the night.
Detective Inspector Pat Murray told Mr Foley that the woman recognised Piotrowski and was later able to identify him to gardaí.
He was arrested on the night of the attack and a map, with a purple dot marking the exact location of the couple's home, night vision goggles, a rope and duct tape were found in his vehicle.
The remnants of his clothing was also found in a burned-out fire in the vicinity of the incident.
Det Insp Murray agreed with Mr Foley that the woman had been "sexually humiliated in the most degrading fashion" and that Piortrowsk had ensured that her boyfriend watched while he assaulted her.
He said that woman believed the Piotrowski would carry out the death threats and pleaded with him to spare their lives. The accused agreed to leave the house when she promised not to contact the gardaí.
Det Insp Murray agreed with Mr Foley that Piotrowski denied everything in garda interview and maintained that the couple had concocted the whole story in “a type of revenge attack on him”.
Mr Padraic Dwyer SC, defending, said his client wished to apologise to the man for assaulting him but said he still denies any kind of sexual assault ever took place.
Mr Justice Charleton addressed the woman and thanked her for having the courage to give evidence in a court.
He said he had been "left in wonder" at the emotional intelligence she had displayed during this ordeal to ward off an even worse attack on her and her boyfriend.
Mr Justice Charelton said the woman’s "high level of intelligence and emotional intelligence" effectively allowed the couple to eventually escape Piotrowski.
He said the man made "several valiant efforts to defend them and did all that any able-bodied person could have done".
Mr Justice Charelton also commended the man for his bravery in reporting Piotrowski to the gardaí after his girlfriend had pleaded with him not to after she promised the accused she would not.
