LAST UPDATE | 5 Feb

THREE MEN HAVE been convicted of the rape and sexual assault of a woman they met in a Dublin nightclub almost six years ago.

The three men had pleaded not guilty to a total of seven counts of rape, oral rape and sexual assault of the woman at an unknown location in a car and in a Dublin house on 31 August, 2019.

The jury of eight men and four women returned guilty verdicts today on six of the seven charges after a total of 13 hours of deliberation.

Anthony Hickey (39) of Ballyogan Square, Carrickmines, Dublin 18, was convicted of rape, oral rape and sexual assault by a majority verdict.

Hickey had pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman in his then-home address in Ballyogan and not guilty to one count of oral rape and one count of sexually assaulting her in a car.

Fabio Vicente (42) with an address at Little Newtown, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, was convicted of two counts of rape by a majority verdict of the jury. He had pleaded not guilty to one count of raping the woman in the car and one count of raping her in the house.

Matin Zolfaghari (34) of Marley Court, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, was convicted of oral rape by a majority verdict, and acquitted of sexual assault. He had pleaded not guilty to orally raping the woman in the house and sexually assaulting her in the car.

Giving evidence during the trial, the woman said she and her housemate went for some drinks before going to the nightclub in the early hours of 31 August 2019.

She said they were dancing and she had “silly chat” with a group of men, possibly three or four.

Her housemate told her she was leaving and the woman said she’d follow her home.

She told Karl Finnegan SC, prosecuting, that things started to become “ faded and hazy” after her housemate left. “I believe I was drugged”.

She recalled a “bag of white powder in the vicinity”, but couldn’t remember if she took any.

Her first recollection after leaving the nightclub was sitting in the back of a vehicle, which she thought was a taxi. A man was sitting with her and three others were also in the car.

Her memory of this time was “hazy” but “I remember a male being on top of me”.

She said she was raped twice in the car, but couldn’t say if it was by the same person.

The car stopped and she recalled the taxi driver “playing with his zipper then there’s nothing else from me until the house”.

Her next memory was of lying on a bed, with two others in the room, one of whom was on top of her.

She said she tried to kick out her leg, but “wasn’t going to be able to fight”.

She passed out and a man, identified as Hickey during the trial, was asleep beside her when she woke the next morning.

She said she rushed from the house and got a taxi home where she told her housemate what had happened.

Counsel for each man put their clients’ version of events to her during cross-examination, outlining a series of allegedly consensual sexual activities in Vicente’s SUV and later, in Hickey’s then home.

She appeared emotional at times while these accounts were put to her, often replying that she had memory gaps from the night. She remained firm that she hadn’t consented to any sexual acts with the men.

At one point, she said the three men “were strangers to me then, they are strangers to me now.”

She was shown a compilation of CCTV from the nightclub, the streets outside the venue and the route taken by the SUV.

The victim disagreed with defence counsel that she didn’t appear highly intoxicated in the footage.

When asked if she recalled any physical violence by Hickey, the woman said she didn’t, adding “I think rape is violence”.

The three men made no visible reaction while the registrar read out the verdicts today.

Mr Justice Paul Burns thanked jurors for their care and attention to this “particularly difficult case”.

The complainant was present in court when the verdicts were read out.

The judge said the men’s status had changed following their convictions. Remanding the three men in custody, he adjourned the case until March 10 for sentence and directed the preparation of a victim impact statement.

After the court rose, the three men appeared shocked, then hugged family members before they were taken into custody.