Jail for weightlifter who pinned woman on bed and assaulted her

A nightclub bouncer pinned a woman face-down on his bed and violently assaulted her as she struggled to get free from his grip, a court has heard.

Bodybuilder and former gym instructor, Raymond Stewart (30), from Drumaveg, Moycullen, who has represented Ireland at weightlifting competitions abroad, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting the young woman, causing injuries to her back, neck, shoulder, hip, arms and a laceration to her upper lip at his rented accommodation in Galway on February 11 last year. He also pleaded guilty to a second charge of falsely imprisoning her against her will.

The court heard the victim, her boyfriend and a male friend were socialising in the Four Aces Casino earlier that night and met Stewart outside afterwards.  They didn’t know him but he invited them back to his house for a party.

He gave them drink at his house.

The woman’s next recollection was waking up face-down on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. Stewart was on top of her.

She said he covered her mouth with his left hand and his right hand  was  “ripping” at her.   She had trouble breathing but she began to   struggle with him, managing to pinch his neck with one free hand while trying to break free.

She said the straps on the top she was wearing broke in the struggle and her breasts were exposed.  The struggle went on for a long time and he kept telling her to ‘stop’.

She kept pinching and screaming at him and he eventually let her go, she said.

She ran downstairs and found her boyfriend outside the property, wandering in a disorientated state.

They went to the Garda Station at 8am that morning to report the incident.

Garda Diarmuid Cloonan said the woman was in a very distressed state when he met her.  She attended the sexual assault unit and photographs were taken of extensive bruising to several areas on her body.

A medical report stated considerable force had been used to cause such bruising to the woman’s body.

The woman did not want to be in court but her victim impact statement was read into evidence.

In it, she said she no longer felt safe in other people’s houses and disliked going upstairs on her own any more.

Garda Cloonan said Stewart had seven previous convictions and this offence had been committed while he was out on bail.

Stewart expressed remorse for his actions.  He said he drank several double whiskeys that night and had also taken testosterone enhancing steroids which he knew made him aggressive.

Mr John Kiely, SC, defending, said his client lived with his mother and two brothers in Moycullen.

His father had died suddenly in front of him when he was young and that had a serious effect on his client, he said.

“He has significant prowess in weightlifting and has represented Ireland abroad,” Mr Kiely added.

The court heard Stewart had been a licensed security man working at various night-clubs prior to this conviction.

Judge Rory McCabe said this serious incident took place late at night when a lot of alcohol had been consumed.

“The victim was tired and disorientated.  That was obvious to the accused because of the account he gave to Gardai.

“He took advantage of the situation and the best that can be said is that at one stage, according to his own account, he may have misinterpreted the situation, but once the victim came to her senses that is when the real problem started. She got herself into a situation that she never intended and this resulted in the accused behaving as he did and being charged with very serious offences,” the judge said.

He pointed out the woman’s version of what happened was entirely credible and he hoped she could put this behind her and get on with her life.

Judge McCabe said the headline sentence for each offence was four years in prison, but he said the accused was entitled to 50% credit for the early plea.

He imposed two years on each charge to run concurrently.