The trauma of sexual violence is compounded by failure of public systems

Anna Ilnicka was beaten and sexually assaulted but the health service, gardaí and justice system failed her. We need an inquiry to find out why, writes Michael Clifford.

PHOTO: Even though hospital doctors’ notes recorded twice that Anna Ilnicka (above left, and right after the first attack) had been sexually assaulted, no examination was carried out, and no effort was made to liaise with relevant organisations offering support to victims of sexual violence. When her attacker was convicted of a lesser crime, he was given a suspended sentence. In the months that followed the attack, Anna was befriended by a garda who she said went on to sexually assault her. Even though it was discovered that a similar allegation was made against the same garda by another woman in an unrelated case some years previously, the DPP refused to allow the case be prosecuted.

Calls for public inquiries are myriad these days. Some cases are far more deserving than others.

One that certainly deserves close attention is that of Anna Ilnicka, who now wants a statutory inquiry into the events surrounding how the State’s law enforcement and health services agencies dealt with her after she was brutally and sexually assaulted.

Anna is a Polish woman who came to live in this country over a decade ago. At the time she was in an emotionally vulnerable state, following the recent break-up of her marriage. Her grasp of the English language was shaky.

She was living in the West of Ireland for just a few months in April 2006 when she came into contact with a man who offered her a job in another town. The man’s family run a business in the town.

Anna travelled there and was met off the bus by the man and offered accommodation for the weekend until she got on her feet.

There followed 48 hours of terror, in which she was repeatedly beaten and sexually assaulted. The extent of her injuries were visible in photographs taken in the days after the assault.

Anna later detailed much of the assault in a statement, which was taken without the aid of an interpreter. She related that at one stage she thought her life was at an end.

“He started to beat me very hard. He punched me very hard in the face. Everytime he hits me he says ‘I will break your face’, ‘I will change you’. He tells me ‘nobody can have you’. ‘I kill you’. He hit me several times and tells me this.

“His phone rang and I picked it up and I say, please, please help me. The next thing I remember was seeing a garda and an ambulance.”

At the hospital, she was in a state of near hysteria. The medical notes record: “Patient involved in domestic dispute; severe swelling to left side of face, eye, nose, mouth. Unstable on feet. Patient very aggressive. Gardai present. Unable to carry out any OBS (observation) due to patient’s condition.”

A more detailed note taken that evening by an attending doctor stated: “Assaulted by boyfriend… today pt (patient) was forced to drink alcohol, assaulted — hit in the face, head, then also raped.”

The latter allegation was emphasised again that evening in another note: “Pt reported to Dr has been sexually assaulted.”

Despite all that, Anna was never examined for sexual assault and there was no further exploration of the allegation.

The assailant was subsequently convicted of a minor assault which was erroneously referenced as being a domestic violence incident. He received a suspended sentence.

The reaction of both the gardaí and the health services to the incident left many questions.

On attending at the man’s home, the garda didn’t immediately arrest him, particularly in light of the extensive injuries Anna had suffered.

No statement was taken from her until her landlord back rang on her behalf when she returned home days later.

No interpreter was provided to take her statement, and neither was any provided later when the man was in court on the assault charge. There was no effort whatsoever to keep her informed about the progress of the case.

Nowhere was the possibility of a sexual assault explored in the investigation, despite the recording of an allegation in the hospital that day.

The health services have questions to answer. Despite the recording — at least twice — that a sexual assault may have taken place, there was no examination to that effect.

There was no effort to contact one of the bodies who deal with the victims of sexual violence. There was no effort to respond to a patient who both claimed and had the appearance of somebody who had been through a terrible ordeal.

Worse was to follow. In the months after the incident, Anna was befriended by a garda in the West of Ireland, whom she claimed went on to sexually assault her. Her story was published in the Irish Examiner in 2015, after which the minister for justice ordered a full investigation.

An inspector was appointed to oversee the investigation. The assailant was interviewed as was Anna and local members of the force. Last September, Anna met with the investigation team and was told that a file that had been sent to the DPP on the matter had been returned with the decision that no prosecution would be taken.

Separately, GSOC investigated the allegation of sexual assault against the garda. In the course of that investigation it was discovered that the same man had been the subject of a completely unrelated similar allegation — from a woman not known to Anna — some years previously.

On that occasion, the DPP directed that no prosecution follow. Then, a fortnight ago, Anna was informed that GSOC and the DPP had come to the same conclusion in relation to her allegation.

Anna, who was assisted in her endeavours by the former general secretary of the Irish Prison Officers Association, PJ McEvoy, also discovered there were discrepencies between the hospital records from the day in question, and records given to her in the course of a HSE inquiry into the matter.

Anna Ilnicka has now written to the Taoiseach, the minister for justice and a host of other parliamentarians asking for a statutory inquiry.

While the criminal justice system has determined that at this remove nobody can be prosecuted, that does not negate the requirement for answers as to how State agencies failed a vulnerable woman.

All the evidence suggests there was a systems failure in both the health and justice services in dealing with a very serious crime.

That and the manner in which she was dealt with by state agencies after coming out of a terrifying experience are some of the questions Anna Ilnicka wants answered.