Ireland Case No. 22789Rape
Court of Appeal increases Romanian rapist Costel Pirvu's effective sentence from 6.5 to 8.5 years
The Court of Appeal found that the reduction applied to Romanian national Costel Pirvu's 10-year rape sentence because he could not speak English was excessive, substituting a sentence of 10 years with only the last year-and-a-half suspended, up from the original 6.5-year effective term. Pirvu had raped a 19-year-old woman with a mild intellectual disability three times in a town in the west of Ireland.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrestednot reported
- Chargednot reported
- In court16 Jan
5 reports - Verdict
- Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports72 statements extracted from the articles
- whatThe victim was 19 at the time of the offence. (irishtimes.com, rte.ie)
- whatThe victim had been socialising with friends who walked her half way home. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe accused grabbed the victim and forced her against a black jeep and then to the ground. (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe raped her on the street while she struggled to escape, causing injuries and bruises to her arms, legs and back. (irishtimes.com)
- whatPirvu refused to let her go home, threatened her and forced her to go back to his apartment. (irishtimes.com)
- whatCCTV footage showed Pirvu and the victim walking back towards his apartment. (irishtimes.com, rte.ie)
- whatHe raped her twice further at his apartment. (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe let her go the next morning when a flat-mate walked in and demanded she be freed. (irishtimes.com)
- whatA SATU report established bruises and scrapes to the victim's face, back, breasts, arms, legs and genital area, including a 2mm laceration to her urethra. (irishtimes.com)
- whatPirvu raped a 19-year-old woman with a mild intellectual disability (gript.ie)
- whatPirvu forced her to the ground causing scrapes and bruises to her arms, legs and back (gript.ie)
- whatPirvu forced her to his apartment where he raped her two more times (gript.ie)
- whatA Sexual Assault and Treatment Unit report showed a 2mm laceration to her urethra plus bruises and scrapes to face, back, breasts, arms, legs and genital area (gript.ie)
- whatPirvu grabbed the woman and forced her against a black jeep and then to the ground. (rte.ie)
- whatPirvu raped the woman even though she struggled to escape, and she received injuries and bruises to her arms, legs and back. (rte.ie)
- whatPirvu refused to let the woman go home, threatened her and forced her to go back to his apartment. (rte.ie)
- whatPirvu raped the woman twice further at his apartment. (rte.ie)
- whatPirvu let the woman go the next morning when a flat-mate walked in and demanded she be freed. (rte.ie)
- whatPirvu raped a woman with a mild intellectual disability three times (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe grabbed her and forced her against a black jeep and then to the ground (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe took off her pants and raped her while she struggled to escape (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe refused to let her go home, threatened her and forced her back to his apartment (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe raped her twice further at his apartment and let her go the next morning when a flatmate walked in (irishtimes.com)
- whatPirvu only claimed consensual sex after being told his DNA was found on the victim's body (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe victim ran home crying and her mother brought her to the Garda station and then to a SATU (irishtimes.com)
- whatSATU established bruises and scrapes to face, back, breasts, arms, legs and genital area including a 2mm laceration to her urethra (irishtimes.com)
- whatPirvu raped the 19-year-old woman three times after grabbing her on the street in a town in the west of Ireland. (gript.ie)
- whatThe first rape occurred after he forced her to the ground, causing scrapes and bruises to her arms, legs and back. (gript.ie)
- whatHe then forced her to his apartment where he raped her two more times, releasing her the next morning when a friend arrived. (gript.ie)
- whatThe victim sustained a 2mm laceration to her urethra and bruises and scrapes to multiple body areas. (gript.ie)
- whereThe woman was grabbed on the street in a town in the west of Ireland (gript.ie)
- wherePirvu was formerly of Kilreekill, Loughrea, County Galway (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe offence took place in the early hours of 4 February 2018 in a town in the west of Ireland. (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe offence took place in a town in the west of Ireland in the early hours of 4 February 2018. (rte.ie)
- whenThe offence took place in the early hours of February 4, 2018 (irishtimes.com)
- investigationPirvu only claimed consensual sex after being told his DNA had been discovered on the victim's body. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationPirvu was arrested, his apartment was searched and a DNA sample was taken. (irishtimes.com)
- chargePirvu was found guilty of three counts of rape and one of false imprisonment after a nine-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. (irishtimes.com)
- chargeCostel Pirvu, 39, of Kilreekill, Loughrea, Co Galway, was found guilty of three counts of rape and one of false imprisonment. (rte.ie)
- chargeHe was found guilty of three counts of rape and one of false imprisonment (irishtimes.com)
- chargePirvu had a previous conviction for attempted rape. (gript.ie)
- courtThe State argued at the Court of Appeal that the sentence was unduly lenient. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe Court of Appeal adjourned the matter to Thursday, 19 January, for judgment. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe DPP argued the trial judge factored in Pirvu's status as a foreign national with no English, making prison life more difficult (gript.ie)
- courtMr Justice George Birmingham adjourned the matter to Thursday, 19 January (gript.ie)
- courtThe Court of Appeal found the discount for being a non-English speaker in an Irish prison was excessive. (rte.ie)
- courtMr Justice George Birmingham returned the judgment for the three-judge court. (rte.ie)
- courtThe court found it surprising the trial judge placed little emphasis on Pirvu's previous conviction for attempted rape. (rte.ie)
- courtA probation report described Pirvu's attitude towards his victim as very disturbing, with no remorse or empathy. (rte.ie)
- courtPirvu was found guilty after a nine-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. (rte.ie)
- courtPirvu had pleaded not guilty on all counts. (rte.ie)
- courtMs Brennan argued on behalf of the DPP that Pirvu's sentence had been unduly lenient. (rte.ie)
- courtThe trial judge factored in Pirvu's status as a foreign national with no English, saying every day in prison would be like a day-and-a-half for an English-speaking person. (rte.ie)
- courtThe trial judge came up with a formula that it would be 50% more severe for Pirvu than a local. (rte.ie)
- courtThe trial was a nine-day trial at the Central Criminal Court (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceHe was jailed for six-and-a-half years after pleading not guilty on all counts. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe trial judge applied a formula that prison would be 50 per cent more severe for Pirvu than for a local person. (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe trial judge handed down a 10-year sentence and suspended the final three-and-a-half years, backdating it to August 2018. (irishtimes.com)
- sentencePirvu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with the final 3.5 years suspended (gript.ie)
- sentenceThe court quashed the original six-and-a-half year sentence and substituted 10 years' imprisonment with the final year-and-a-half suspended. (rte.ie)
- sentenceThe increased sentence would be backdated to August 7, 2018 (irishtimes.com)
- sentenceThe trial judge's original sentence was 10 years with the final three and a half years suspended. (gript.ie)
- otherPirvu had been in custody since August 2018. (irishtimes.com)
- otherPirvu has a history of violent offending including convictions for robbery, attempted rape, house-breaking and assault. (irishtimes.com)
- otherPirvu had a history of violent offending including convictions for robbery and attempted rape (gript.ie)
- otherPirvu had violent convictions from crimes committed in Germany and Romania (gript.ie)
- otherPirvu had previous violent convictions from his time in Romania and Germany. (rte.ie)
- otherHe displayed no remorse or empathy and on occasion took a derogatory view of the victim (irishtimes.com)
- otherPirvu had previous violent convictions from Romania and Germany (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe only person to visit Pirvu in custody was his solicitor (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe trial judge applied a formula that each day in prison would be 50 per cent more severe for Pirvu than for a local. (gript.ie)
- otherThe victim was self-harming and felt her life was no longer her own. (gript.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 19 Jan2023Court finds Romanian rapist had jail term reduced 'excessively' as he didn't speak English - Gript
Court of Appeal ruling increasing the effective prison term by finding the non-English-speaker discount excessive; includes victim impact statement and details of the three rapes.
victim, 19, femaleconvicted, Costel Pirvu, male, Romanian, named, non-irishCostel Pirvu - 19 Jan2023Reduced jail term for sex offender who was a non-English speaker was ‘excessive’, court rules
Full details of the Court of Appeal judgment including the judge's reasoning, the victim's impact statement, SATU findings, and backdating of the sentence to August 7, 2018.
victim, 19, femaleconvicted, Costel Pirvu, 39, male, named, non-irish (judged from name)Costel Pirvu - 19 Jan2023Rapist has jail term increased by Court of Appeal
Provides the full text of the Court of Appeal judgment by Mr Justice George Birmingham, including the judge's reasoning on the excessive mitigation discount, the victim impact statement, and the backdating of the sentence to 7 August 2018.
victim, 19, femaleconvicted, Costel Pirvu, 39, male, named, non-irish (judged from name)Costel Pirvu - 16 Jan2023Romanian rapist given 'extraordinarily lenient sentence' as he didn't speak English, court of appeal in Dublin hears - Gript
Reports the DPP's argument at the 16 January 2023 Court of Appeal hearing that the trial judge's 50% discount for Pirvu's lack of English was excessive, along with the victim impact statement and defence submissions. The judge adjourned to 19 January.
victim, 19, femalesuspect, Costel Pirvu, male, Romanian, named, non-irishCostel Pirvu - 16 Jan2023Rapist given ‘extraordinarily lenient’ sentence because he can’t speak English, court hears
Reports on the Court of Appeal hearing where the State argued the sentence was unduly lenient; the court adjourned to 19 January 2023 for judgment. Provides detailed trial evidence including CCTV, SATU findings, victim impact statement, and the trial judge's sentencing reasoning.
victim, 19, femaleconvicted, Costel Pirvu, 39, male, named, non-irish (judged from name)Costel Pirvu