A man has had his 18-month jail term for sexually assaulting a woman as she slept deferred to allow him to spend Christmas with his family.
Rui Mendes (45) of The Old Dispensary, Ardrahan, Co Galway, pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to one count of sexual assault at an address in Galway on November 27, 2021. He has no previous convictions.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan handed down an 18-month sentence but deferred it to January 20 next to allow Mendes spend the Christmas holidays with his family.
Passing sentence, Judge O’Callaghan said Mendes made an effort to kiss the victim, but she rejected him. She had previously indicated that she had no interest in Mendes and left him in no uncertain terms that his sexual advances were not welcome, the judge said.
Detective Garda Sharon Noone told Geri Silke BL, prosecuting, that Mendes and the injured party originally met in early November 2021 on two separate dating apps, but that nothing came of it.
They discovered they had a mutual friend in common and this man invited the victim to his home for dinner, drinks and to watch a match on the night in question.
The injured party was told that Mendes would also be attending and she said she would go if she could bring a friend. On the night in question, the injured party made it clear to Mendes that she was not attracted to him and that she did not like his personality.
At one point in the evening, the victim’s friend and the mutual male friend went upstairs in the house for some privacy. Mendes and the injured party continued to watch TV, and Mendes attempted to pull the woman in for a kiss, but she pushed him away.
Det Gda Noone said the woman fell asleep while watching a movie, but awoke to find Mendes sexually assaulting her. The court heard that he had his hand down her trousers and was touching her buttocks. He had removed his top and was also masturbating.
The woman raised the alarm with her friend and reported the offence to the gardai. She was taken to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.
The judge said Mendes had serious difficulties with the word “no” and that the woman had clearly indicated that she had no interest in being romantically involved with him. Despite this, he took advantage of her while she was asleep, the judge said.
“It is clear to the court that the nature of this assault was for self-gratification purposes and certainly with no intent of it being mutual gratifying for two consenting adults,” the judge said.
Judge O’Callaghan set a headline sentence of three years, noting that the maximum term available to him was 10 years. He said in recognition of Mendes’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors, he would discount the headline sentence by 12 months.
He suspended the final six months of this sentence in recognition of the “substantial work” Mendes has done to rehabilitate himself. He placed Mendes under the supervision of the Probation Services for 12 months post-release.
Mendes also had €2,000 in court as a token of remorse, which the judge ordered should be given to the woman within four weeks.
The court heard that Mendes, who is originally from Portugal, has been living in Ireland since 2018 and has a good work history. He complied with his bail terms.
In her victim impact statement, which was read out in court by counsel, the woman said that after the assault, she began to have nightmares reliving what happened.
“I could not sleep properly,” she said. “I had panic attacks, sometimes several a week. This made it difficult to leave the house.”
She said she found it hard to keep up with work, and was let go. “Losing my job made everything harder, both emotionally and financially,” she said.
“The assault changed how I feel around others and how I feel about myself.”
Det Gda Noonan agreed with Gary McDonagh BL, defending, that while on bail, his client returned to Portugal on several occasions and always returned back to Ireland.
She also agreed that Mendes was not on the garda radar before this, and has not come to any adverse attention since.
The garda agreed with counsel that a probation report before the court highlighted that once his client received legal advice, he entered a guilty plea.
Mr McDonagh said his client instructed him to offer an apology to the injured party for all the hurt that he has put her through.
He asked the court not to impose an immediate custodial sentence.
