Man (42) jailed for rape of woman he met the day before
Declan Brennan
A Lithuanian man with a string of convictions for violent offending has been jailed for nine and a half years for the rape and assault of a woman a day after they met.
Tasas Ruzas (42) raped and assaulted the victim at the end of a day of bingeing on drink and drugs together.
After a Central Criminal Court trial last May, a jury convicted him of rape, anal rape and making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to the victim at a place in Dublin on the night of January 4th, 2025.
Ruzas with an address at Parnell drive, Mulhuddart, Dublin had pleaded guilty to assaulting the victim, causing her harm, but denied the other offences.
Dt Gda Zohra Smyth told Bernard Condon, prosecuting, that in the early hours of January 5th, 2025, the victim rang 999 to say she had been assaulted and raped.
The woman had met Ruzas in Dublin city centre on January 3rd, and they had smoked crack cocaine together and taken some tablets.
They had consensual sex, but later began arguing, and Ruzas threatened to “cut her face off and eat her”. He punched her in the face and then pushed her on the bed and raped her without a condom.
The woman froze and begged him to stop. He then pushed her face down and anally raped her.
The woman went into the toilet and locked herself inside. She called emergency services and told the operator that she was “going to make a run for it”.
She got away and hid in the doorway of a nearby house before calling 999. She didn’t know where she was but an ambulance managed to find her and she was brought to the hospital for treatment.
Ruzas’ 33 previous convictions in this jurisdiction include thefts, assaults, dangerous driving, drink driving, threatening and abusive behaviour, violent behaviour in a garda station and intoxication in a public place.
His convictions from a district court in Lithuania are for robbery and thefts.
He also has convictions from the UK from between 2007 and 2013, and these include assaulting a police officer, car theft, grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving and “assault occasioning actual bodily harm”.
In a short victim impact report, read by prosecuting counsel Sarah Connolly, the woman said that the rape and assaults have affected her in “every way, shape and form”.
“He took so much away from me that will never go away,” she stated. She said she has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and ongoing nightmares as a result.
Sentencing on Thursday, Judge Paul McDermott said the sexual offending was extremely humiliating and degrading. He said the violence was shocking and left the victim with fractures to her left eye.
He said the victim was clearly terrified. He said she showed considerable fortitude to come to court and submit herself to scrutiny, particularly given her history of drug addiction.
He set a headline sentence of ten years for the rape offences. He said there were very few mitigating factors, noting that Ruzas has shown no acceptance of the jury verdicts and has not expressed any remorse for the sexual offending.
He said there are some signs that Ruzas is addressing his addiction issues and suspended the final six months on conditions that he engage with the Probation Service after his release.
He also set conditions that Ruzas keep the peace and have no contact whatsoever with the victim. He imposed post-release supervision for four years.
The court heard that Ruzas told gardaí that he binge drinks, and when he does, he loses control. He told gardaí that he had no recollection of the alleged assaults but accepted that he must have caused the injuries.
Michael Bowman, defending, told the court that alcohol and drugs play a considerable part in his client’s offending behaviour. He said that his client wished to apologise for the assault to which he pleaded guilty.
Bowman said that since going into custody, Ruzas has gained enhanced prisoner status and has taken English and cookery classes.
At the trial in April, Ruzas was found not guilty of two other counts of assault causing harm and making a threat to kill or cause serious harm. He had pleaded not guilty to five counts before the jury.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
