A Polish man who admitted raping a woman while visiting Ireland for a birthday party has been jailed for four years.
Rafal Stojanowski, aged 36 and formerly with an address at Fairview Crescent, Killygowan, Monaghan, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping the woman on the basis that he was reckless at a house he was staying in on October 27, 2018.
The married father of two has no previous convictions and has remained in Ireland since the offence, with some time spent in custody, to deal with the case.
The law defines a man having committed rape if he either knows that a woman does not consent to intercourse or if he is reckless as to whether she does or does not consent to it.
Stojanowski's lawyers told the court that all parties were intoxicated, that the man was not aggressive or threatening, and accepts he was reckless as to whether the woman was consenting.
The woman, who met Stojanowski while socialising, told gardaí she had been asleep after going back to the house where he was staying and woke to find him having sex with her.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott noted how the victim's life has been disrupted and she suffered trauma due to the offence.
He took into account the basis on which the plea had been entered and the manner in which the offence was committed.
He noted in mitigation factors including the man's guilty plea, that he had expressed remorse, had no prior convictions, and had been assessed as at low risk of reoffending.
Mr Justice McDermott imposed a four year sentence, which he backdated 12 months to reflect time spent in custody.
The prosecuting garda told Paul Greene SC, prosecuting, that Stojanowski had come to Ireland to celebrate his friend's birthday and had met the woman and her friend after a night socialising.
They returned to the house where he was staying and continued socialising.
She was directed to a bedroom where she could sleep and her recollection was that her friend was in the bed with her.
She later woke to find herself on her stomach with a man having sex with her.
She said "no" and tried to push the man away while pulling up her underwear.
She said he was not aggressive but did not stop.
Her friend came into the room, she told her what happened, and they left.
Stojanowski was arrested and admitted having sex with the woman.
He asserted that she consented and said she was intoxicated.
The woman, who is entitled to anonymity under the law and wishes to maintain that anonymity, outlined to the court how the offences affected her physically, mentally and financially.
