One of the two women raped by a taxi driver says she got into a taxi “for safety reasons” but then had “the worst nightmare” – The Irish Times

One of the two young women who were raped by a Dublin taxi driver in the back seat of his car on two different nights told a judge that she took a taxi home “for safety reasons” but then experienced the “worst nightmare”.

The Central Criminal Court heard that she still suffers from anxiety and trust issues as a result of being raped by Raymond Shorten when she was 20.

What happened to her was “every parent’s worst nightmare” and her parents were also severely affected.

A second woman said she was a 19-year-old virgin when she was raped by Shorten.

“I still don’t know what to say: It’s shocking that this even happened, that such an offender not only caught me but also raped another person.”

After hearing victim impact statements, evidence and submissions from both women on Monday, Judge Paul McDermott said he would sentence Shorten on July 22.

Geraldine Small SC, representing the DPP, requested that a prison sentence of 10 to 15 years be considered for the offences against both women.

One of the women had not even flagged down a taxi on the night in question, and CCTV showed Shorten driving around before stopping the taxi next to her, the lawyer said.

Lorcan Staines SC, defending, said Shorten was a 50-year-old father of seven who had worked all his life. He had lost his marriage and relationship with his elderly parents but hoped to rebuild his relationship with his children, the barrister said.

Shorten, of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month of two counts of rape and one count of anal rape.

He had pleaded not guilty to the rape and anal rape of the then 19-year-old woman on June 26, 2022. He also denied the rape of the second woman, then 20, a few months later, on August 9.

The prosecution assumed that both women ended up in a taxi after a sociable night in Dublin city centre and were raped by the driver, Shorten.

In her statement, the first woman said she drank five pints of cider on the evening of June 25, 2022, an amount she was not used to.

She described gaps in her memory of her journey home. She recalled waking up in the early hours of the morning in the passenger seat of a car driven by a man. She said he took her to the back seat, where he raped her anally and vaginally before putting her back in the driver’s seat and dropping her off near her home.

The second woman said she was tired and drunk after going out for a drink in Dublin city centre on August 8, 2022. She fell asleep in the back of a taxi and the next thing she remembers is waking up to the driver raping her. She said she was in shock and didn’t know how to defend herself. He asked for €70 for the taxi, she said.

Shorten denied the rape allegation and said the sexual contact between him and the women was consensual. The jury found him guilty on all counts.

On Monday, Ms Small read victim impact statements from both women.

The victim, who was 19 at the time of the rape, said: “It messed up my intimate life because it was my first time, I was a virgin. I would say I made some bad decisions in my dating and intimate life because of it.”

She has lost her self-confidence, feels uncomfortable in taxis and “a lot of men in the room is enough to make me panic”.

“I’ve lost the ability to feel carefree and safe on the road and I’m having flashbacks. It’s sickening and disturbing.”

The second woman stated in her testimony that she developed severe anxiety after the rape and still finds it challenging to deal with her everyday fears. She also experienced nightmares and countless sleepless nights.

The night of August 8, 2022 “changed my life dramatically in many ways.”

She never imagined something like this could happen and was always told to take a taxi. But what she thought would be the safest option turned out to be her “worst nightmare.”

Her only memory of Shorten is his “strong Dublin accent” and she finds it “triggering” when she hears similar accents. Although she still tries to enjoy the evenings, “they end in tears” because what Shorten did to her is “constantly on my mind”.

Two years of her 20s, which were supposed to be “the best days of my life,” were “taken away from me.” Her family suffered too. “A parent’s worst nightmare is that their child comes home and says they’ve been raped.”

The court heard on Monday that Shorten has previous convictions, including for a serious sexual offence, but details of this cannot be disclosed at this time in order to protect the identity of the victim.