A woman who was raped by three men she met at a nightclub has described how she was further violated by being filmed twice during the assault.
In a victim impact statement the woman said she believed the men who raped her would never show remorse, as they had later circulated the video "for a laugh".
However she said the only light she had from he trauma was knowing she had brought them to justice.
Last month 39-year-old Anthony Hickey, a personal trainer from Ballyogan Square, Carrickmines in Dublin, was found guilty of raping the woman at his then home in Dundrum and of oral rape and sexual assault in a car in August 2019.
Fabio Vicente, aged 42, of Little Newtown, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, was convicted of raping the woman in a car and at the same house.
Matin Zolfaghari, aged 34, from Marley Court, Rathfarnham in Dublin, was found guilty of orally raping the woman at the same house. He was found not guilty of sexually assaulting her in a car.
All three men had denied the charges but were found guilty after a two-and-a-half week trial. They will be sentenced on 27 March.
'Faceless monsters'
The woman sobbed in the witness box as she read out her statement during which she described
the three men who raped her as "faceless monsters" until the time of their trial.
She described her distress at having requested a screen to shield her from them as she gave her evidence but then having to endure watching hours of CCTV footage from that night in which she saw the men for the first time.
She said up to then not knowing what they looked like had protected her in some way.
The woman said on the night of the rape she felt as she always had, "joyful, fearless and carefree" but everything changed when she was raped by three complete strangers who had watched her movements and took advantage of her before they "used me and my body as if I was an object they were entitled to".
She said she had been robbed of her freedom, her own body and her love for life and had become anxious and viewed every stranger as a possible predator and a danger. She said the rapes turned her into someone who thinks everyone she meets is a threat and "instead of looking for the good I look for the bad".
She said she had to live with the memory of seeing the faces of her family as she told them she had been raped. She later, having met a new partner, lived with the dread of having to disclose her trauma.
The woman said she was forced to change jobs after working in the same industry for 14 years because in her job "you have to love people" and she went from being "confident in every room to being scared in every room".
She suffered from nightmares and sleep deprivation and flashbacks, she said.
Referring to having to watch the CCTV footage in court, she said she "internally screamed at the screen for someone to help me and change the course of my life".
She added: "I know your faces now and I will look at every single one of you when I say this is your fault."
She said every victim at some stage thinks it is their fault. 'why did I stay out?' 'why did I drink so much?’ 'why didn't I sense danger?'
"Why couldn't I stay out and be safe? Why could I not stay out to dance and get home safely? Because of you - you who waited and preyed and took advantage. You who watched me, who waited for an opportunity to trick me into getting into that car.
"You not only raped me, I found out during the trial you violated me in another way. You videoed raping me. You sent around those videos and laughed about me saying no. You laughed because you didn't care and you have shown no remorse from the second you entered these courts," she said.
The woman described the day she walked into Kevin Street Garda Station and met Detective Richard Mostyn adding, "he didn't know me, he knew nothing about me but from the day I walked into that station I felt believed and the whole garda team fought for me for the last five-and-a-half years."
'You will be believed'
She also paid tribute to the prosecution legal team and said they had changed her life and that she wanted all victims to know "you will be believed and you will be supported".
The woman described the trial process as long and daunting and said she got to court and had her character obliterated.
"Saying respectfully - before you insinuate there is no violence in rape if you're not kicked or punched - doesn't make it any less disrespectful. You listen to lies about you being the one in control, knowing you had none.
She said she knew what happened to her was wrong and that those who did it deserved to be behind bars.
Addressing the three men she said: "You sit here today and wait for your sentence but that night you made the choice to hand me a lifetime sentence that I have to carry for the rest of my life. All for the sake of a 'laugh'.
"Because boys will be boys. I don't believe you will ever be remorseful for what you did to me and the only bit of light I have from this trauma is knowing I brought you to justice and that that makes the world a better world for my daughter."
The trial heard evidence the woman had been at a nightclub with a friend but had stayed behind after her friend went home and had engaged with the three men.
She said after her friend left things got "hazy and faded", adding that she believed she had been drugged.
The jury heard toxicology tests showed only alcohol and cocaine in her system and did not detect any so-called rape drugs.
The woman said she did not remember leaving the nightclub and her first recollection was sitting in the back of vehicle she thought was a taxi.
The car in fact belonged to one of the accused.
She remembered a man being on top of her and she could not move or talk and believed she was raped twice in the car but did not know if it was by the same person or one of the others.
She did not remember entering a house or how she got there, she said, but her next memory was lying horizontally at the end of a bed with two men in the room, one of whom was on top of her.
The woman said she passed out and later woke up with a man asleep beside her.
She said she was panicking and got dressed before leaving the house and ordering a taxi from the road.
She sent her housemate a pin drop of the location and when she got home she told her housemate she had been raped.
The jury was told one of the men had taken videos in the car and the house.
During a 30-second clip taken in the car, a woman's voice could be heard a number of times saying: "No."
A WhatsApp exchange later showed one of the men sending the video and Anthony Hickey saying: "Listen to you laughing after she says no."
Zolfaghari, who made the videos, told gardaí he recorded the videos as it was his "first time experiencing something like this".
He said he made the recordings for a "laugh" and later shared the videos in a group chat with the first accused and another male friend.
He said he sent them "for a laugh", describing it as a "locker room chat" between "blokes".
Today defence lawyers asked Judge Paul Burns to be as lenient as possible in sentencing on 27 March next. However counsel for the DPP Karl Finnegan said the Director viewed the offending at the highest level.
The court heard that Anthony Hickey has 10 previous convictions including road traffic offences and one for assault for which he was sentenced to 18 months.
Senior Counsel Padraig Dwyer for Anthony Hickey handed in a number of testimonials and said "this is out of character" for his client who does not accept the jury's verdict.
He described him as a good son, partner and father who had been employed since the age of 15 and had been working in coaching since 2017.
Counsel for Fabio Vicente said his client had nothing to do with the making of the videos and was unaware this was being done. He said his client was a personal trainer and also worked as a male stripper for "comedic value" at hen parties.
He said his client respectfully disagreed with the jury's verdict.
Seamus Clarke SC for Matin Zolfhargi handed in eight testimonials and said his client remained of the view that any sexual contact was consensual. While his client was the person who took the videos and he "could not get away from that", Mr Clarke said his client was convicted of one offence.
Judge Paul Burns said he would consider the submissions along with the "powerful victim impact statement" from the complainant and sentence the men on 27 March.
Earlier the judge had noted that the public gallery of the courtroom had been full. The judge said these cases were held in camera (in private) for a reason and he did not want the victim feeling intimidated by the large number of people present.
He said the court would have to be cleared and each of the accused men could have only two people present on their behalf.
