UHL doctor jailed for eight years after raping young nurse

Louay Kila sent a Snapchat selfie of him kissing the sleeping young woman to the man she was in a relationship with at the time

Louay Kila, a UHL doctor who was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a young nurse.

A doctor who was working in University Hospital Limerick has been jailed for eight years for raping and sexually assaulting a young nurse, whom he took a selfie with while she was asleep.

Judge Sean Gillane passed sentence on Louay Kila, 31, a Moroccan national with an address at 61, Cois Luachra, Dooradoyle, Limerick.

Judge Gillane imposed an eight-year jail sentence for rape and four years for sexual assault, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Kila was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, last week. After the jury returned an unanimous verdict, he was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Judge Gillane summarised the evidence on Friday, taking into account last week's victim impact statement of the young nurse.

Kila raped the nurse on March 2, 2024, and was arrested on March 26, 2024. He was charged with sexual assault in March 2024, and with rape in October 2024. He was then suspended from the register of medical practitioners in March 2025.

Victim impact statement

Judge Gillane referred to the victim impact statement which set out how the young woman’s life had changed after the rape in 2024, how it impacted her career, “having studied” for a number of years to become a nurse.

The court heard she had worked a 13-hour shift in UHL and made arrangements to go out with her friends the same night. She intended to stay the night at her friend’s apartment.

At a bar with her friends, CCTV footage showed she talked to Kila, who was “known to her in a general sense” as they both worked in UHL.

The judge said the accused enquired about a relationship she was in at the time, noting a “degree of animus” between the accused and the “other male”.

After going out, the victim stopped in a takeaway before going back to her friend’s apartment. The judge said the victim was “intoxicated”, which was “reflected in the CCTV footage”.

At the apartment, she removed her make-up and changed into a “wearable blanket”. 

When Kila arrived to the apartment with his friends, the victim detailed how she was on a couch in the living room, with the accused sat on a chair opposite. 

They talked about work, and Kila asked her again about her relationship with the other man. She said she was in the “early stages of dating” that man.

The victim fell asleep on the couch, and awoke to the feeling of a “penis in her vagina and thrust motions”.

Once she “managed” to open her eyes, she described seeing Kila’s erect penis. She was in a state of “panic” and “freezing”.

Kila left before returning and proceeded to “digitally penetrate” her and was “persistent in doing so” — despite being told to stop. She pushed him off and pulled her legs up, crossing them, to stop him.

The accused left to go to the hallway, and returned to the sitting room once more, and grabbed her face, “going in for a kiss” — an action the victim “vividly demonstrated to the jury”. She told him to f*** off.

Her friends found her in a “state of shock”, as she found it “difficult to breathe”.

Once she checked her phone, she found a Snapchat message from the man she was dating, stating “we’re done” with a photograph of her asleep and of Kila kissing her cheek.

The judge said it was clear she could not have taken the photograph, which was sent from her own Snapchat account.

The judge said this detail was of “significance”.

The victim received a text from Kila the following day, which read: “I hope you’re doing okay. I’ve been thinking about what happened the other night. I didn’t mean to upset you. Your wellbeing is important to me and I want to make sure you’re okay.” 

Referring to her victim impact statement, the judge said her “evidence speaks for itself, more adequately than any summary I can attempt”.

He took into consideration the “immediate effect on her career path”, and on the role she had “worked so hard to achieve”.

He said she suffered anxiety and was prescribed medication, and impacted her family life.

Judge Gillane said the victim showed “resilience” during the proceedings.

The judge noted while there was no “doctor relationship factors”, Kila was “acutely aware and deliberately exploited” the victim’s vulnerability. He said the young woman could “never have anticipated she was in danger”.

The judge added she was “oblivious” to the fact a picture had been taken, which was described during the trial as an “deliberate act of humiliation".

The judge added Kila “persisted despite being asked to stop”.