Man who carried out “copycat offences” three years apart against two women he falsely imprisoned and sexually abused has been jailed for 17 and a half years

By Brion Hoban

A man who carried out “copycat offences” three years apart against two women who he falsely imprisoned and sexually abused has been jailed for 17 and a half years.

Ioan Lingurar (35) raped the first victim after she woke up in his car.

The woman tried to get out, but the car was locked and she only managed to escape some time after the attack.

The Central Criminal Court heard that three years later, Lingurar sexually assaulted another woman in a car.

This woman managed to escape after grabbing the wheel and punching him.

The court heard that Lingurar was arrested after DNA taken after both incidents was matched with a pre-existing DNA profile in Austria that identified him as the attacker.

Following a trial in October 2021, Lingurar was convicted by a jury of rape and false imprisonment of a woman at or near Old Bawn Road, Tallaght, Dublin, on February 14, 2016. He had denied the charges.

Linguarar, with an address at Clarinda Park East, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to the sexual assault and false imprisonment of a second woman at locations within Co Dublin on February 24, 2019.

He has five previous convictions, including a conviction for sexual assault in France in 2011.

He also has convictions in Ireland for attempted theft and road traffic offences.

Passing sentence today, Ms Justice Tara Burns said these were “chilling and unsettling cases” in which “copycat offences” were committed against two women of similar age and appearance, after he picked them up in a similar area at a similar time of year.

Justice Burns said the fact that neither victim can remember several hours of the night of the offences is “particularly troubling”.

She said while both had consumed alcohol, this was not given as an explanation.

The judge said the offences were aggravated by the serious nature of the offending, the circumstances of both victims being locked in a car with their phones taken from them and the length of time they were both detained.

She said the offences were further aggravated by the women being “preyed on” when they were by themselves late at night and Lingurar having a previous conviction for sexual assault.

Justice Burns noted that the second victim does not know what happened to her regarding the sexual assault, but said an inference can be drawn that Lingurar placed his penis against her mouth and vagina when ejaculate came from it.

She said in light of the fact that the offences were committed three years apart against two different women, consecutive sentences were appropriate.

Justice Burns sentenced Lingurar to ten years imprisonment and seven-a-and-half years imprisonment respectively for the offences in 2016 and 2019.

She ordered that these sentences run consecutively for an effective operative sentence of 17-and-a-half years imprisonment.

The judge commented that as both victims are completely unrelated to Lingurar, his identification will have no consequences for their anonymity.

In her victim impact statement, which was read out in court, the victim of the offences in 2016 said that while the physical injuries did not have a long-standing effect, the psychological effects “will last a lifetime”.

The woman said it was impossible to put into words “the pain and heartache” of having your “freedom and dignity stripped away”.

She said after the offences she was scared of strangers and terrified to come into contact with family and friends.

She said she felt as though she was “ostracised” by her rapist’s actions.

She said she wanted to make sure any other woman who would have been affected by him is not.

In her victim impact statement, which she read out in court, the victim of the offences in 2019 said that on the outside it might seem like she is coping, but that is “a front” and she is masking how she feels.

The woman said she is “still living this nightmare” that she cannot wake up from. She said it was something she thinks she will never forget and she just has to live with that.

She said it does not matter how many showers she has, she still feels dirty.

She said she will keep going and “never let him win” because her child needs her.

Garda Lorcan McCarthy told Kerida Naidoo SC, prosecuting, that in February 2016, a woman had travelled to Ireland to visit her friend and they went out with others in Dublin City centre.

Gda McCarthy said that at around 2am on the date in question, the woman became separated from her friends and decided to get a taxi by herself.

There was a period of time she could not remember and then the next thing she could remember was waking up in the back of a car.

Lingurar was sitting beside her and was naked from the waist down.

The woman tried to get out of the car, but it was locked and he refused to let her go.

The accused then climbed on top of her and raped her, during which she tried to get away by scratching his face and shouted at him to stop.

Afterwards she continued to try getting out, but Lingurar called her a “bitch” and indicated that he was unhappy with the way she was behaving.

The court heard that the woman decided to play along and said she would be in a better mood if he let her text her mother.

He allowed her to open the door to get her phone from the front seat, as it was not in her possession, but she instead left the car and ran away.

The woman did not know where she was and got in a taxi which brought her to a garda station.

CCTV footage obtained by gardaí showed Lingurar following along behind the woman in the city centre and then approaching her when she stopped.

Gda McCarthy said that on the date in 2019, the second victim had been socialising in Dublin City centre, but began making her way home by herself when her friends departed for a party.

The garda said the woman got in what she believed was a taxi, which was being driven by Lingurar.

At a certain point he did not make a turn she suggested and it became apparent he had locked the car.

There was a period of time she could not remember and some time later she found herself in the front seat of the car in an unidentified place near a body of water.

She did not have her phone, she was alone in the car and she attempted to drive away, but she was unable to do so and Lingurar got into the car.

Lingurar climbed on top of her, rubbed her legs and fumbled at her clothes. The court heard that the sexual assault the man pleaded guilty to did not happen at this point.

When they later arrived at a field the woman pulled at the wheel, punched him and managed to make her escape.

She arrived to her mother’s house, who encouraged her to go to gardaí.

A swab taken from the woman’s genitals recovered DNA later established to be that of Lingurar.

This matched the DNA taken from the first victim in 2016 and gardaí were able to identify the accused after matching it to a DNA profile of his from Austria.

Gda McCarthy agreed with Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that his client is a Romanian national and spent approximately three years living in homeless shelters after first coming to Ireland, but currently resides with his mother.

The garda agreed with counsel that his client pleaded guilty to the 2019 false imprisonment during the trial last October after the second victim gave evidence, but just prior to when she would have been cross-examined.

Lingurar had pleaded guilty to the 2019 sexual assault before the trial.

Mr Clarke said most of his client’s family is in Ireland and his mother and some of his siblings were in court. He said his client’s father died of cancer in 2016.

Counsel said his client has been in custody since his arrest in 2019. He asked the court to bear in mind the totality principle when passing sentence.