Former Nigerian model sentenced to four years imprisonment for raping college student in Ireland.
A
former Nigerian male model, Utseoritselaju Uwatse, has been jailed for four
years for raping a fellow college student in Ireland.
25-year-old
Uwatse, of Avonmore Road, Raheen, Limerick, was sentenced on Monday, June 12,
2023.
A
Central Criminal Court jury found Uwatse guilty of a single count of rape in
March this year.
The
offence took place on 20 April, 2018. He has no previous convictions.
The
injured party, Danielle Lyons, waived her anonymity in order to name Uwatse.
Detective
Garda McGrath told Conor Devally, SC, prosecuting, that on the night in
question, a group of college students gathered for drinks in Cratloe Student
Village to celebrate two birthdays before going into Limerick city for a night
out.
Det
Gda McGrath said one of the members of the group was Danielle Lyons, who said
in her evidence that the group went to Smyth’s pub and then onto Molloy’s late
bar in Limerick.
Here
she met Uwatse, whom she knew socially.
CCTV
footage of Uwatse and Ms Lyons hugging was shown to the court, and then Ms
Lyons returned to socialising with her group of friends.
Ms
Lyons and another friend left the pub and returned to the student village,
where a number of parties were taking place in different apartments.
The
court heard that at one stage, Uwatse picked Ms Lyons up and carried her into a
bedroom and lay her on the bed, where she remembered him removing her shoes
before falling asleep.
She
woke early the following morning, and her clothes did not feel right, and she
could feel pressure in her vagina.
Ms
Lyons told the court that Uwatse was beside her, and he asked her if she “was
on the pill”.
She found this question unusual, and he then
told her that they had sex and that the condom had broken. She realised she had
not consented to this and became upset.
The
court heard that Uwatse left the apartment, and gardaí were called.
He
was arrested and questioned in June 2018 and told gardaí that the sex had been
consensual.
Reading
her victim impact statement to the court, Ms Lyons said: “I don’t think there
are any words that would convey the damage that you have done”, and: “The woman
who is here today is broken down”.
She
also said: “I felt guilty for the heaviness I brought to my friends and
family.”
Det
Gda McGrath agreed with Seamus Clarke, SC, defending, that his client was born
in Nigeria and moved to Ireland as a child.
He
said that at the time of the offence, his client was twenty years of age.
The
garda agreed with counsel that Uwatse had enjoyed success as a model and was
involved in athletics when he was younger.
Sentencing
Uwatse today, Mr Justice Paul Burns said rape was a serious crime and he agreed
that Uwatse deserved a headline sentence of between seven and 10 years.
He
noted Uwatse had had a “promising future” ahead of him before this offence, and
noted he has no previous convictions.
He
said he hoped that Ms Lyons, with the support of her family and friends, would
be able to put the matter behind her as best as she could.
Mr
Clarke said his client was living and working in the UK and was about to board
a flight to Milan for a modelling job when he became aware that the gardaí
wished to speak with him.
He
said Uwatse surrendered himself to the UK police and returned to Ireland for
questioning.
Counsel
said that both of Uwatse’s biological parents and his stepmother now all live
in Nigeria, his sibling lives in the United States, and he has no family in
this country.
He
said his client has no previous convictions, has a good work ethic and was polite
and cooperative with gardaí.
He
asked the court to be as lenient as possible and that his client is sorry for
the hurt that he had caused.
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