A Slovakian man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for an unprovoked attack in which a woman was stabbed nine times in Tralee.
The woman was the victim of an opportunistic attack by 20-year-old Slovakian man Robert Bily on August 7th last year, as she watched Netflix in her apartment by herself.
Mr Bily pleaded guilty to one count of assault causing harm and one count of sexual assault to the same woman, and one count of burglary in respect of another apartment.
20-year-old Robert Bily was sentenced by Judge Sinead Behan at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court.
The court previously heard Mr Bily had been in the country for five weeks when he carried out the assault on the woman.
He forced himself upon her after entering her apartment, and punched and stabbed her on her bed as he asked her for sex.
The court was told Mr Bily stabbed her nine times with a kitchen knife, which was damaged due to the force of the stabbings.
Mr Bily then locked her in her bathroom and stole her phone, leaving her for dead with no way to call for help.
The woman suffered extensive, life-threatening injuries, and described the life-changing mental effects of the attack in what the judge called a courageous and hard-hitting victim impact statement.
Senior Counsel for the defence, Vincent Heneghan, said the defence is still somewhat at a loss as to how these events came to be, and he cannot give the court a rationale for Mr Bily’s offences.
Judge Behan noted he has taken full responsibility for his actions, and although he has significantly limited insight but regrets his actions.
Judge Behan said Mr Bily is at a low to moderate risk of reoffending, but she was concerned that he is not engaged in specialised sexual treatment as he denies the sexual aspect of the crime.
She handed Mr Bily a headline sentence of 18 years, due to the significant aggravating factors, but reduced this to 13 years because of mitigating factors, with the final two years suspended.
These mitigating factors included his young age, guilty plea, and that he has indicated remorse.
Judge Behan also backdated it to when he was first detained, meaning he will serve a maximum of 10 more years in prison.
Judge Behan said the woman showed inspirational courage, and she hopes this spirit prevails with her for the rest of her life.
