Spanish tourist raped in Dublin on New Year’s Eve asks to meet her attacker and ‘look him in the eyes’ via restorative justice

by lifeandtimes89

14 comments

  1. Brave woman. Hope this gives her closure if it is approved,

  3. Jesus. Fair play to her.

    Would be class if a bunch of people were there (outside or across the road) to support her. A mini #MeToo gathering so she knows she’s not alone.

  4. Incredibly brave woman, I hope the attacker behaves himself

  6. The state of Dublin, I work in the city centre , I’ve travelled quite a bit and obviously certain European cities are really iffy but the blatant nonchalant attitude of criminal elements in Dublin is crazy , Irish and Non Irish alike , no fear of the Gardai or the broken judicial system. Poor woman , unfortunately it’s more regular than people know and a lot goes unreported.

  7. Spanish tourist raped in Dublin on New Year’s Eve asks to meet her attacker and ‘look him in the eyes’ via restorative justice

    Isabel Hayes

    A Spanish tourist who was raped in Dublin city centre during New Year’s Eve celebrations has said she wants to meet her attacker in a safe space and ask him how he could have been so cruel.

    The prosecution will now look into providing restorative justice for the complainant to allow her to do this, with the court hearing that it is rarely utilised for victims in rape cases before the Central Criminal Court.
    Christopher O’Grady (33), formerly of Muirhevnamor, Dundalk, Co Louth, was found guilty of one count of raping the then 19-year-old woman on January 1, 2019, following a trial last March. He was homeless at the time.
    In her victim impact statement which was read out by prosecution counsel, Tony McGillicuddy SC, the woman said: “I don’t know why, but I want to meet him in a safe space and look him in the eyes and ask him what reason would anyone have to be so cruel to a young woman.”
    “…I want to know if he believes his own lies. I want him to truly see me and be forced to see himself as monstrous as I saw him.”

    She outlined the effects the rape have had on her, saying O’Grady turned her life upside down. “He didn’t see the person behind the body,” she said.
    She described how she can no longer socialise or dance like she used to, is fearful of walking alone at night and is hypervigilant of other young women out at night.
    Padraig Dwyer SC, defending O’Grady, submitted his client was guilty of rape on the basis that he was reckless as to whether the young woman was consenting or not. He said O’Grady now accepts his guilt and wished to apologise to the victim for the hurt and pain he caused her.
    After some consultation with both O’Grady and the complainant, the court was told that they are both willing to engage in restorative justice.

    Ms Justice Caroline Biggs warned O’Grady that this does not mean he will not be serving a custodial sentence for his offending. She noted that any restorative justice process would need to be managed by appropriate individuals, given the effects of the crime on the complainant.
    Mr McGillicuddy said he had some knowledge of restorative justice but was “not aware of it being used for an offence of this nature”.

    “I’m not sure how developed that system is or which agency would be appropriate to do it,” he said.
    Ms Justice Biggs adjourned the case to July 24 to give the prosecution time to look into the issue.
    The trial heard the woman had been in town to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks that night when she got separated from her friend and came into contact with O’Grady outside a shop. She told the court she was trying to find a bar to meet her friend and O’Grady walked her through town to a car park area where the alleged rape occurred.
    The woman said she felt “like a doll” and didn’t have any strength in her body during the alleged incident. Afterwards, the court has heard she walked with O’Grady back through the city centre for about 40 minutes, where she got talking to a couple – a man and woman – outside a shop and parted ways with O’Grady.

    The woman ended up in a B&B with the second man after the woman went home, where they had sex before the woman went home to her accommodation. She told the court it was painful and she persuaded the man to stop. The trial was played CCTV footage of this encounter, which occurred in the hallway of the B&B.
    Ms Justice Biggs warned the jury that they may find this footage “intrusive” and “distressing”, but she said she had made the decision that it needed to be shown in court as O’Grady had a constitutional right to put the evidence before them.

    When the complainant woke up the next morning, she told the court she “realised I had two rapes and there might be a medical issue with that”. She went to hospital. The court heard no charge was brought against the second man, who gave evidence in the trial.
    Sergeant Eoghan Kirwan told the court that O’Grady has 65 previous convictions, including public order offences, criminal damage, drugs and theft. He took a bench warrant while on bail for this offence and has been in custody since August 2024.

    Defence counsel said O’Grady was living a “shambolic” lifestyle at the time of the offence, that he was homeless, begging on the streets and doing drugs.

    Helplines: If you have been affected by the contents of this article, click here for more information.

  9. > Sergeant Eoghan Kirwan told the court that O’Grady has *65 previous convictions*, including public order offences, criminal damage, drugs and theft.

    Is there no 3-strikes style rule that imprisons repeat offenders like this

  10. I’m obviously all for convicting sex offenders, this case is a bit weird though.

    The complainant alleged she was raped and then went off with another stranger a few hours later and had consensual sex with him, shortly after being raped by a stranger, and then she initially claimed the 2nd encounter was also a rape, but cctv showed otherwise?

    Have to wonder what evidence was brought before the court against the defendant here, there must have been something substantial.

  11. I actually learnt about the concept of restorative justice through that recent Natasha O’Brien documentary

    On the one hand, I kind of agree with it. It seems like it would be best for both victim and assailant’s sake, to give them some sort of piece of mind going forward. On the other hand, I worry that it may retraumatise victims of crime

    I’m kind of ambivalent on it

  12. Man, the protecting women crowd was awfully non rioty for this one.

    Strange.

Comments are closed.