Man who raped woman over several hours jailed for 12 years

Fiona Ferguson

A man who repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted a woman over several hours has been given a 12-year sentence with the final year suspended.

Gintaras Jankevicius (53) told the woman he was going to keep her in his home until she was pregnant. He gave her a knife and told her to use it if she wanted him to stop.

The woman did not use the knife to stab him as she knew she would be unable to kill Jankevicius and feared worse would happen if she only wounded him. The Central Criminal Court heard that the woman is happy for Jankevicius to be identified.

Jankevicius, of Bridge Meadows, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment of the woman at a prior address on October 11th, 2022.

He is currently serving a three-year sentence for possession of drugs and has been in custody since March 2025.

Passing sentence on Monday, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said the offences represented serious and degrading sexual offending which occurred over a protracted period and had been terrifying for the injured party.

Mr Justice McDermott said the injured party had travelled for the accused man’s trial and arrangements were to be made for her to give evidence from behind a screen as she was terrified. The accused then entered a guilty plea and she was not required to give evidence.

The judge said the plea had been a great relief to the woman and he was entitled to the benefit of that, but noted Jankevicius had induced the terror in the injured party addressed by his guilty plea.

Mr Justice McDermott said Jankevicius knew the victim to be in a vulnerable position and had offered his home as temporary accommodation where she should have expected to have some degree of safety and security.

He said Jankevicius had not displayed much genuine regret or remorse, tends to minimise his responsibility for what happened and had shown very little victim empathy.

The judge said Jankevicius’s drink and drug issue contributed to the offending but can not be used as excuse. Reports before the court assess him as at high risk of reoffending. He noted his dysfunctional background and that he has been in steady employment.

Mr Justice McDermott imposed a 12-year sentence to be served consecutive to the three-year sentence imposed for the drugs offence in April 2025.

He suspended the final year of the sentence on strict conditions including that he have no contact with the injured party, abstain from drink and drugs and undertake offence focused work.

The judge ordered five years post release supervision for the protection of others, to prevent offending and encourage rehabilitation.

Detective Sergeant John Cleary told Sinead Gleeson BL, prosecuting, that the woman was temporarily staying in a room in Jankevicius’s former accommodation. The court heard the man drank heavily but had said he would stop.

On the night of the events, the woman was watching a movie and they both had some shots.

When she went to her bedroom she was followed by Jankevicius who pushed her onto the bed and took his clothes off. He had a knife which he gave to the woman and told her if she wanted him to stop to put the knife into him. He then took off her clothes and underwear.

The woman later said she did not stab him because she knew she would be unable to kill him and she did not know what would happen to her if he was just wounded.

Jankevicius raped the woman. He was very aggressive and did not use a condom. He told her several times during the ordeal that he was going to keep her there until she was pregnant.

She refused to have oral sex with him. He attempted anal sex and sexually assaulted her before raping her again. She also described him choking her and being aggressive.

The woman said she was crying all the time, felt disgusted throughout and thought Jankevicius would kill her with the knife. She said she was kept in the bedroom for two to three hours.

He left the bedroom to get more alcohol and woman texted a relative abroad to tell them she had been raped. The relative tried to call her but Jankevicius took her phone and she could not answer.

He sexually assaulted the woman again as she was trying to have a shower and aggressively raped her on her bed again following the shower. He gave her the knife again. Jankevicius sexually assaulted her by licking her intimately and digitally penetrating her.

He then started making references to harming himself, keeping her in the house until she was pregnant and was annoyed when she would not enter into conversation with him.

The woman managed to get her phone and go into the toilet where she contacted her relative again.

The gardaí arrived after some time. Jankevicius was arrested and the woman brought to a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.

Jankevicius was interviewed and accepted there had been sexual contact but told gardaí he thought it was consensual. He told gardaí that “she kind of agreed” and when asked why she would have contacted gardaí said: “Maybe I did something I should not have done.”

The court heard the guilty plea was of great value as the women was petrified of giving evidence.

Jankevicius has a previous convictions in the Czech Republic for robbery and in the UK for criminal damage and a drugs offence. He is currently serving a three-year sentence for a drugs offence.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said her life has changed drastically since she was raped.

She said she is haunted by nightmares and feels overwhelming shame about what happened. She suffers with anxiety, trusting people and leaving her home.

Paul Greene SC, defending, asked the court to take into account Jankevicius's guilty plea and the regret he feels. He submitted his client was not of a violent disposition when he is sober. He came to Ireland in 2016 and is originally from Lithuania.

He said Jankevicius has no family support in this country and asked the court to take into account his status as a foreign national serving a sentence in this country.

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.