A man who claimed he fell on top of his wife’s friend, has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years for raping her in what the judge described as an act of “violence and revenge”.
Aidan Kestell, 55, of Briarswood Lawn in Dublin 15, was convicted of raping Paula Doyle in September 2019.
Ms Doyle told the court she had become a “waking corpse” in the aftermath of the attack.
Kestell’s trial at the Central Criminal Court last month, heard that he raped Ms Doyle at Hartstown Park in Dublin 15, as he walked her home from a party in his house.
Ms Doyle said she only found after going to gardaí about the rape that Kestell was also responsible for sending her thousands of messages, some sexually graphic, from an unknown number for several years.
The court heard Ms Doyle was a long standing friend of Kestell’s wife and was at a party in his house on 6 September 2019. Earlier in the night, he had walked in on her when she was in the bathroom, which she said she found a bit strange.
When she was leaving her friend insisted Kestell should walk her home.
She said she was reluctant but eventually agreed. She said when they reached the park, the next thing she remembered was lying on the ground in agony. She realised she was being raped by Kestell and tried to fight him off. After he left she made her way home.
Following the weekend, she contacted a sexual assault treatment unit and made a complaint to gardaí.
When Kestell was arrested he initially denied any sexual interaction with Ms Doyle before claiming she initiated the sexual contact. In another interview he claimed sex could have taken place accidentally after he fell on top of her with his penis exposed.
In his evidence to the trial he admitted he had told some lies to gardaí but he claimed he did not rape Ms Doyle.
A jury found him guilty after deliberating for almost three-and-a-half hours.
In her victim impact evidence, Ms Doyle spoke of the effect of the “atrocious attack” on her and on her family and she said she had transformed into a shell of who she used to be.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said this was a single incident but one with “appalling and enduring consequences”.
He described it as a crime of violence and revenge for which Kestell would pay a serious price.
The judge said Kestell’s actions were intentional and knowing and there was nothing reckless about what he did. He noted that Kestell at first denied the offences and then gave a “grudging acceptance” that it had come about in a “preposterous way”.
He sentenced Kestell to eight years and suspended the final six months.
Ms Doyle described Kestell as a manipulative, vile, compulsive liar who had shown no remorse.
Outside court, she urged other women to come forward and urged the Government to do more to protect women who were victims of harassment, stalking and sexual violence.
“The silence will stop, your voice will be heard, and you will have your day,” she said.
