A nurse who was attacked by a doctor in Limerick confronted her abuser in court today and declared to him: “I got justice.”
Louay Kila, (31), who was working as a registrar doctor at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) at the time, was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in Limerick on Thursday of attacking and sexually assaulting the victim on March 2, 2024, reports Breaking News.
Kila, originally from Morocco and residing at Cois Luachra, Dooradoyle, Limerick, denied the charges of attack and sexual assault during his four-day trial held earlier this week.
However, after four hours of deliberation, a jury unanimously convicted him of both charges on Thursday, reports Breaking News. The nurse requested to keep her legal right to anonymity while allowing Kila to be named, and the court approved this arrangement.
On Friday, the nurse faced Kila during his sentencing hearing and delivered her own victim impact statement in court, speaking on behalf of all women who have suffered sexual crimes.
“To my attacker, I stood up, and I am holding you accountable for your actions, and I got justice,” the nurse said, reports Breaking News.
“I hope to be an inspiration for any woman who has dealt with an incident like this and encourage them to stand up and hold their attackers accountable,” she said, reports Breaking News.
“I wasn’t going to let you abuse me further by letting you get away with it. I stand here on behalf of any woman who has been attacked or sexually assaulted and was too afraid to report it,” reports Breaking News.
Looking directly at Kila, who had his head buried in his knees, the nurse said: “We (women) are people, we are not objects, and we deserve to be treated as such — No means no,” reports Breaking News.
The court was told that Kila and the nurse both worked at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) and met as part of a bigger group during a night out in Limerick City.
Later, at an apartment where they and friends had gone, Kila attempted to force the victim to kiss him by holding her jaw open. She rejected him and told him to leave her alone, reports Breaking News.
Afterwards, a photograph of Kila kissing the victim on her cheek while she was asleep on a couch at the apartment, was shared on a Snapchat account, the court heard, reports Breaking News.
Later that night, the victim said she was “in shock” when she woke up to find Kila penetrating her.
Kila also digitally penetrated the victim with several of his fingers, and kept doing so even after she told him to “stop”, reports Breaking News.
After Kila left the apartment, the nurse told her friends: “I just kept telling him (Kila) to stop.”
Gardaí were informed and attempted to locate Kila. He was arrested 20 days following the assaults, reports Breaking News.
Kila sent the victim a message while she was at a sexual assault treatment unit the day after the attack, saying “I didn’t mean to upset you” and that her “well being” was “important” to him.
Kila answered “no comment” to questions about the attack and sexual assault during his cautioned interview with gardaí, reports Breaking News.
Two months after the incident, Kila gave gardaí a prepared written statement, asserting that he and the victim had engaged in “consensual” kissing and digital penetration that night.
Today, the nurse told the court that the attack and assault affected “my health, my livelihood, my family life, my potential relationships and my sense of self” and she was “diagnosed with PTSD and put on antidepressants just to cope with the trauma”, reports Breaking News.
“I live in a state of constant anxiety and fear, and I often get flashbacks and nightmares of what happened to me.”
The woman explained that before the attack and assault she had been “excited” to be nursing at UHL, but afterwards she “couldn’t return to work” and felt “physically sick” when walking back into the hospital, where Kila continued working for some time, reports Breaking News.
“I was no longer able to work in that hospital or deliver effective patient care as I was constantly looking over my shoulder hoping that Louay Kila wasn’t nearby,” said the nurse.
The nurse said the HSE offered her a transfer to a different healthcare setting “and I felt I had no option other than to take this as Louay was still working as a doctor in UHL”, reports Breaking News.
“I also feared for the patients of UHL. I knew that I had gotten out of the hospital but what about those who were left behind?”
“My job is to care for patients, and I felt like a failure because I knew this man was delivering care to vulnerable people and I knew what he was capable of doing to people in vulnerable positions,” reports Breaking News.
The nurse concluded: “I am a strong woman, I will heal from this, and I will be a stronger more resilient version of myself. I will never let that man take that away from me.”
Kila’s barrister, Liam Carroll, said Kila consented to being suspended from the register of doctors in Ireland in March 2025, 12 months after he attacked the nurse, reports Breaking News.
“This has had catastrophic consequences for his career,” said Mr Carroll.
“He (Kila) could not work as a doctor afterwards, he has been in a form of purgatory, frozen in time, a non-national with no family here, and prison will be difficult for him,” said Mr Carroll, reports Breaking News.
“He has suffered psychologically is receiving medication. He has no previous convictions, he has not come to garda attention since,” added Mr Carroll.
Judge Sean Gillane praised the nurse and said he would carefully review her victim impact statement. He adjourned sentencing and remanded Kila in custody to reappear in court for sentence next Friday, 13th March, reports Breaking News.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
