A man who admitted to abducting and raping an 18 year-old Spanish girl over a 21-hour period has been given a 14 year prison sentence at the Central Criminal Court. 25 year-old Eoin Berkley from Finglas raped the teenager between July 15 and 16 last year.

Mr Justice Michael White described Berkley’s treatment of the girl as “blood-curdling”, and ruled that the violent sexual assault had been premeditated. Witnesses in the court claimed that Berkley appeared to chuckle when he was handed his sentence.

Berkley was known to the Gardaí for a number of public order situations, including vandalism of the George Bar, for which he was acquitted of all charges. Prior to the kidnapping, he was detained under the Mental Health Act, however, a doctor deemed him fit for release. Two days after his release Berkley’s older brother told Gardaí that he needed to be detained, but officers told him there was no basis for further detention.

Berkley kidnapped and raped the young woman when she visited Ireland that summer in order to improve her English. He lured her away in order to show her where he lived but instead brought her to an abandoned site near Sandymount. As well as raping her, he tied her up using a dog leash and threatened to cut off her hands using a saw if she tried to escape. The teenager begged the rapist to kill her in the least painful way possible. He then drugged and assaulted her.

Berkley raped the woman three times over the course of 21 hours. She managed to escape when he brought her to the beach. She called her father in Spain and told him: “I’ve been kidnapped, I’m going to be killed.” In court, her father said it was the worst phone-call he could ever receive.

The woman had several drugs in her system after the attack and had suffered severe bruising all over her body. In her victim statement, she said she thought she was going to die during the attack and to this day she is unable to sleep without a light on.

Berkley’s defence counsel told the court about the man’s difficult history, including his mental health problems and experiences in foster care and with homelessness.

If you were affected by any of the issues highlighted in this article you can reach out to the following:

Irish Rape Crisis Centre

T (24-hour helpline): 1800778888 | W: https://www.rapecrisishelp.ie/

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

T: 01 661 4911 | E: [email protected] | W: www.drcc.ie/