Joshua Doolan jailed for aggravated sexual assault after attack on woman out walking

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Joshua Doolan was sentenced to seven years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended, after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a woman in her Dublin neighbourhood. The court also ordered him to have no direct or indirect contact with her and placed him under Probation Service supervision for three years after release.

The attack occurred on 16 November 2022. The court heard that Doolan and the woman were strangers and that he grabbed and pushed her into bushes as she walked. She resisted and managed to get him off her; a passer-by came to help. The judge described the offence as disturbing and said it had caused profound and lasting effects for the woman.

In her impact statement, the woman said the attack had irreversibly changed her life and that her sense of safety had not returned. Mr Justice Tony Hunt said the case illustrated how a woman may not necessarily feel safe, even in a familiar place where she had a right to feel secure.