Image source: Irish Mirror/Cork Courts Limited
A woman who was walking her dog when she was dragged to the ground by a man who sexually assaulted her. She told a courtroom that she thought she would die during the ordeal.
Vadim Veste, 28, formerly of Clancy Street in Fermoy, Co Cork, appeared before Cork Central Criminal Court last month, where he pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a woman in her 50s in St Colman’s Park on 7 November 2021.
He pushed the woman to the ground from behind her by placing his hands on her shoulder and mouth and pushing her back into a dark, unlit part of a walkway. He punched her and put his hand under her dress, reports The Mirror.
The court heard that Veste, who is a Moldovan national who also holds Romanian citizenship, had traveled to Ireland just over two weeks after being released from prison for the rape of a minor.
Veste had served a three-year prison sentence in Moldova for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The rape occurred in 2016. Veste also has drug and burglary convictions in Moldova. He arrived in Ireland on 29 December 2020 after being released from prison 18 days earlier.
In court today the victim said she thought her daughter should have identified her body in the park. She assumed that she would die in the course of the ordeal.
Judge Paul McDermott heard the woman, who is in her 50s, was walking her dog at around 6:30 p.m. on November 7, 2021 when Veste grabbed her from behind.
The woman said he smelled like sweat and cigarettes, and then Veste put his hand over her mouth, reports The Mirror.
“I tried to fight. He made me get on to the ground and forced his body and knees on me in the pitch dark. I managed to kick him. He managed to put a weight over my mouth and something on to my nose. I thought I was going to die,” reports The Mirror.
The woman told the court she stopped going for walks after the incident. She said the man was a very troubling individual to have in the community.
“This man is very dangerous. I do believe he would have gone on to kill someone. He tried to rape and suffocate me,” reports The Mirror.
The woman thanked Det Garda Dave Barry and Support after Crime for their support following the incident.
Defense attorney Seamus Roche, SC, said he was unaware that his client had a previous conviction of a sexual nature in Moldova. He asked for an update of the case to allow Mr. Veste to undergo a psychological report which, according to him, would have been useful for the final conviction, reports The Mirror.
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