Justice Patrick McCarthy
This morning, on Newstalk Breakfast, Niamh Ní Dhomhnail spoke to Chris O’Donoghue.
The interview followed yesterday’s decision by Justice Patrick McCarthy, in the Central Criminal Court, to give Niamh’s former boyfriend Magnus Meyer Hustveit a seven-year suspended sentence – after he admitted to regularly raping and sexually assaulting her in her sleep, often while she was under the influence of medication.
Niamh waived her right to anonymity to allow Hustveit be named.
When Niamh read her victim impact statement in the court she said had to give up her job; had tried to take her own life; and had suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders and anxiety.
Niamh Ní Dhomhnail: “I suppose I’m still very shocked at the ruling. I think it’s a lot of take in and, I suppose for me, and I think this is true of the people who were there to support me. The ruling took, the judge took his time in giving the ruling. He seemed to be very cognisant of the fact that what Magnus really did was quite serious which I didn’t actually think was going to happen at all and in the end of it it seemed to happen very fast in that he acknowledged in principle the severity of Magnus’ actions but, in reality and practical terms, that acknowledgement seemed to mean nothing with a fully suspended sentence. So I think I’m left reeling, I think my parents are too, and all of my friends were there to support me and they’ve been in touch, and I think also and the reason I’ve gone forward is because its absolutely so much bigger than me and it’s so much bigger than just this case because this sends such a clear message to Irish society that rape isn’t rape and sexual violence is not being taken seriously enough. And so yeah I’m really probably not sure how I feel about this.”
Chris O’Donoghue: “Do you feel justice was done?”
Ní Dhomhnail: “No, and I don’t think anyone could. And realistically I suppose I never entered into the legal system, seeking justice, because I don’t know how you would define justice in this kind of situation but, certainly, a concrete acknowledgement that these actions have had an impact on you and that inaudible an eye for an eye or anything like that, I think it’s only fair that when you do wrong, you bear consequences of some sort and, from what I understand, this has had no impact on his life. He’s able to have been in a seemingly very committed relationship within a month of me leaving him. He apparently has been in steady employment the whole time, his employers know about his actions, apparently. And they have publicly said to the court that they’re willing to take him back and that they’d hope that he wouldn’t serve prison time, or the less prison time the better because he’s so irreplaceable in his work and, for me, I haven’t been able to work for quite some time, I’ve been physically unwell, mentally, just drained, so it’s hard to think there’s any justice in that really because it seems his life has just continued, this was like a minor blip and everything is fine for him and I can’t quite say that that’s true of my life.”
O’Donoghue: “Somebody who commits any rape, never mind multiple rapes, getting a suspended sentence and there are people criticising this in the newspapers today but can that ever be, I suppose, can people ever be at peace with the suspended sentence for this crimes?”
Ní Dhomhnail: “I don’t think so. Obviously, I still don’t know, I can’t quite articulate yet, I don’t have the feelings yet to articulate how I feel about it. But certainly, looking at people around me, certainly this is not the first time this has happened. I think it sends a very clear message to victims not to bother to come forward and I think actually, maybe this is, maybe mildly off topic, but it’s something that’s been in my head since yesterday. The justice system is actually creating, it’s kind of creating or paving a way for people to a) not report and b) take matters into their own hands because if you consistently see big cases not being brought to justice in the way that we would like, you know, a complete suspended sentence is what I mean by that – people will just say well there’s no point in going through that hassle, there’s no point in going through that heartbreak, we may as well just take matters into our own hands and that’s actually a very frightening thought but I can imagine a lot of people entering into that mindset, if that answers your question.”
O’Donoghue: “Yeah because, like you said, not everyone is going to be able to speak the way you can and waive their anonymity the way you have so the sentiment of ‘don’t bother’ as you’ve said there might just set in.”
Ní Dhomhnail: “I think so and the statistics are there from the rape crisis network, the rape crisis centre, that most victims do not report what’s happened to them and I was always considering going forward and waiving my right to anonymity because of the unusual nature of this case. I mean that’s what was always said to me, I don’t think this case was unusual because of the actions itself, I think this case was unusual in that it was prosecuted and I wanted to raise awareness that rape within sleep is still rape; it’s not just some stranger in an alleyway but I suppose then when the suspended sentence came about and, you know, a lot of the remarks made in court were…I have to speak out against this because…it is hard to do but if none of us do it then, you know, none of us will have the courage to speak forward and, for me, a little while ago, watching Mairia Cahill’s documentary on [BBC] Spotlight was a real turning point for me, in terms of going forward and if I can do that for one person, if I can get people talking about rape, about how it’s viewed, about how the justice system are ignoring really safety, victims’ rights – the whole point of the legal system – then that’s a good thing.”
O’Donoghue: “Niamh, for you, I’m sure this date has probably been the only thing on your mind and on the horizon of your life that this court hearing was come up but, for you now and for your life, what’s next? Or can you start to look beyond this or start to plan your life?”
Ní Dhomhnail: “Yeah I think I’ve been trying to do that. Probably for some time now and sometimes you make small headway with these things and other times, you go ten steps back. I suppose I don’t want Magnus or his actions to take anything more away from me than they already have but that’s a real battle that you fight every day because it’s just not something that’s within your control. I’m trying to see that the world isn’t a dark place anymore and actually that’s the biggest hurdle. When you’re having consistent reminders or consistent flashbacks, or nightmares or whatever that makes it quite difficult but I do believe that I’m making good progress, despite everything, and that’s very much down to two very wonderful parents, supportive parents who are huge, ridiculously great friends and I would say that the first boyfriend that I had ever had, he’s been good and caring to me and he’s really showed me that life is worth living, even when things go wrong or something bad happens or you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time and so I have hope and I have faith but it’s not, it’s certainly not something that comes easy and there are a lot of dark days in between all that as well.”
O’Donoghue: “Niamh in this conversation, we’ve talked about the fact that you don’t think justice was done for you and we’ve talked about the danger of ‘don’t bother’ setting in in victims in reporting but what do you say, finally, to other women and other men out there who are victims of sexual crime.”
Ní Dhomhnail: “Firstly, thank you for acknowledging that men are also victims of sexual crime. It’s something that I feel really strongly about: that sexual crimes are viewed as heterosexual male-on-female acts which they’re absolutely not. And so for anyone out there who is experiencing what is an act between humans of absolute inhumanity, I would say if you don’t get the right reaction or the right response or a supportive response, or the response you want with the first person you tell, please do not, don’t leave it at that, don’t think that everyone will have that response. There seems to be a lot more out there now and there seems to be a lot more awareness between the Rape Crisis Network, the Rape Crisis Centre, One In Four, the Samaritans, whatever it is, call someone, talk to someone and don’t stop until you feel support and love. Unfortunately this is an issue that can garner a very strange reaction from people and I’ve experienced that myself but just don’t be deterred by that. Speak out against it, get in touch. There are a lot of people, I have realised in the past 24 hours, who have come to me who I don’t know, who I know from the TV, who I know from radio, who I know from the papers and media in general, who show incredible support and strength. So it is there so make sure that whoever you are that you get it because it’s there for you and you deserve it.”
Listen back in full here.