Woman sexually assaulted in Fermoy park believed she would be 'raped or murdered'

Sentencing of man charged with attack adjourned until June 12

Vadim Veste was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a woman at St Colman's Park in Fermoy on November 7, 2021. File picture

A 52-year-old woman walking her dog in the park in Fermoy on a Sunday evening was sexually assaulted and attacked by a stranger and such was the level of violence she believed she was going to be raped or murdered.

She managed to fend him off and two men exercising in the area came to her assistance, the victim said at the sentencing hearing for 28-year-old Vadim Veste.

“I thought I was going to die. I could feel my breathing stop. I got my hand free. The hat [gag] came out of my mouth. I started to scream. Thank God the two guys must have heard me scream.

“I did not want to die. I actually thought he was going to kill me. I managed to scream. He squeezed and squeezed tighter on my nose. I looked up. I just punched. Thank God someone came to my rescue. He did not run off, he walked off. Thank God I survived to tell this today.

“This man is very very dangerous. He should not be out. He tried to rape and suffocate me,” the injured party said.

Garda evidence

She thanked Fermoy gardaí and in particular Detective Garda David Barry, who gave evidence of the aggravated sexual assault at St Colman’s Park in Fermoy on November 7, 2021, at the Central Criminal Court.

“A female was walking her dog alone on the Sunday evening in St Colman’s Park in Fermoy. She was walking her dog in an unlit area of the walkway when she was approached from behind by an unknown male while she was on a phone conversation to a relative.

“He put his hand around her neck and mouth and pulled her forcibly backwards to the ground and punched the side of the face.

“A woolly object — believed to be a hat — was placed in her mouth as a gag. He forcefully pinned her on the ground using his knees on her shoulders and arms.

“He then placed his hand up her skirt, touching her vaginal area outside her underwear.

She feared she was going to be raped or murdered — such was the level of violence during the unprovoked attack. She physically fought back and scratched his face and neck. [She also succeeded in] biting his hand and kicking him.

“In another area of the park, two men were exercising and they began to approach that area. When the suspect observed theses males he grabbed her iPhone from her before leaving the area,” Det Garda Barry said.

The injured party was medically examined in hospital and at the assault unit. Evidence, including hundreds of hours of CCTV was gathered.

DNA of the accused was found under the fingernails of the injured party.

Vadim Veste of Clancy St, Fermoy — a Moldovan national — was identified as a person of interest. Det Garda Barry arrested him and he was interviewed a number of times at Fermoy Garda Station.

Initially, he claimed he got into a dispute with the woman regarding some issue with her dog but he later admitted the account which she gave of the incident was correct.

Moldovan rape conviction

The Moldovan with dual-Romanian citizenship was released from a Moldovan jail on December 11, 2020, for raping a 14-year-old girl there. He was sentenced to three years in prison. Eighteen days after his release he travelled to Ireland where he was employed in a meat factory.

Seamus Roche, senior counsel, said the defence only became aware today of the Moldovan rape conviction and he applied for a psychologist’s report on the accused to examine possible motivations for the 28-year-old’s actions.

Det Garda Barry said the information on previous convictions was supplied to the defence months ago. Mr Roche said the legal team had changed. 

Mr Justice Paul McDermott said: “There has been a considerable number of applications in this case for new solicitors — people stepping in, people stepping out.” 

However, the judge granted the adjournment for a psychologist’s report and also directed a probation report. The judge said apart from the interests of the defence, there needed to be an assessment to form the court’s point of view of whether an accused person was likely to re-offend.

Sentencing was adjourned until June 12 at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork. Veste, who has been in custody since November, was remanded in continuing custody until the adjourned date for sentencing.

The victim of this aggravated sexual assault was 52 at the time and is now 54.