'I am not the mother or wife I was before,' says woman as brother-in-law is jailed for raping her

A man who raped his wife's sister-in-law following a Christmas family gathering has been given a seven-year sentence with the final two years suspended.

The Central Criminal Court heard the woman woke up in her own bedroom on Christmas night to find the accused raping her. The woman immediately reported the rape to her husband, who confronted the man.

The man apologised and claimed that he had gone into the wrong bedroom by mistake and had believed that the complainant was his wife.

The 40-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the woman, was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury earlier this year. He had pleaded not guilty to raping the woman following a Christmas Day gathering at the woman's home in 2016.

Ms Justice Carmel Stewart commended the woman for her “courage and bravery” and said she hoped in time that she would be able to put it behind her and “retrieve the life you had before”.

She had revoked the man's bail following his sentence hearing last month and adjourned the case to allow her various documents handed into court

“What occurred was a serious breach of trust in a family situation where the accused had been a guest in (the injured party's) home,” said Ms Justice Stewart today.

She noted that the offence of rape was “inherently violent” and that the impact on the woman's life had been “truly profound”.

She placed the offence at the lower end of the severe category for this offence and set a headline sentence of nine years. She took into account in mitigation the accused’s expression of remorse, lack of prior convictions, previous good character and testimonials handed into court on his behalf.

Ms Justice Stewart imposed a seven-year sentence and suspended the final two on strict conditions.

The woman read her victim impact statement in which she said that she was “not the mother or wife I was before this”. She later said that the family had “not been able to celebrate Christmas as we used to”.

“We have lost our ability to entertain in our home and have distanced ourselves from our family and friends,” the woman continued.

She said she feels constantly frightened and unable to sleep. When she does sleep, she is “plagued with nightmares” and her home no longer feels like “a safe place”.

The woman also spoke of how her marriage had “suffered”. “We have retreated into ourselves,” the woman said before she added that her husband “felt powerless in his own home”.

She said he had been unable to cope and it was “very sad for me to watch him suffer”.

“He has always been our protector,” the woman said before she added that he felt he was not able to protect her that night.

The woman said that her “life has changed dramatically” and she spoke of how her parents had gone through a lot of heartache and her in-laws had been devastated.

She said it had also had a “horrific effect” on her sister-in-law, the wife of the accused, whom she herself had been friends with since their school days.

“Her marriage fell apart,” the woman continued.

“Her world has been pulled apart and I have not been able to support her as I usually would.”

The woman said her own children had been deprived of their cousins, aunts and uncles “but most importantly their own parents...we have not been able to be there for them,” she said.

She concluded her statement by speaking of how during the trial, she felt her dignity was “stripped away from me” in front of her husband and parents.

She said the fact that “my husband had to listen in great detail to what happened to me,” was “heart-breaking”.