Visiting Polish man jailed after admitting to rape

A Polish man has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court after pleading guilty to rape. Rafal Stojanowski, aged 36, admitted raping a woman on 27 October 2018 at a house in County Monaghan where he was staying during a visit to Ireland for a birthday celebration. He pleaded guilty on the basis that he was reckless as to whether the woman consented. The victim stated she had fallen asleep and awoke to find him sexually assaulting her. She told him to stop and attempted to resist, but he did not cease until he ejaculated. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the sentence, backdating it by 12 months to account for time already spent in custody. The judge acknowledged the significant impact on the victim and considered mitigating factors including Stojanowski's guilty plea, expression of remorse, absence of prior convictions, and low assessed risk of reoffending. The court heard evidence that no violence or threats were employed during the offence.