One of two women raped by taxi driver tells judge what happened to her is ‘every girl’s worst nightmare’

One of two young women raped by a taxi driver in the back of his taxi on separate nights two years ago has told a judge what happened to her was “every girl’s worst nightmare”.

She was always told to get a taxi home so she would be safe but what Raymond Shorten had done to her was “every girl’s worst nightmare”, the woman said.

She continues to suffer serious anxiety and trust issues as a result of the rape, which happened when she was aged 20, the court heard. The incident had also had a serious effect on her parents who had also experienced every parent’s worst nightmare, she said.

The second woman, who was aged 19 when she was raped by Shorten, said she was a virgin at the time.

“I still don’t know what to say: it’s shocking that this even happened in the first place, that a predator like this didn’t just get me but he raped another.”

“It’s messed with my intimate life as that was my first time, I was a virgin. I’d say I’ve made some poor decisions around my dating and intimate life because of it.”

The woman said she has lost confidence and is uncomfortable in taxis and that “a lot of men in the room is enough to panic me”.

“I’ve lost my ability to feel carefree and safe in the streets, and I get flashbacks. It’s sickening and unsettling.”

Geraldine Small SC, for the DPP, read victim impact statements from both women during a sentencing hearing concerning Shorten before Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court on Monday.

The judge was told Shorten has a number of previous convictions.

Counsel asked that a headline sentence of 10-15 years be considered in this particular case. One of the victims had not hailed a taxi and CCTV showed Shorten driving around before stopping the taxi beside her, Ms Small said.

Lorcan Staines SC, for Shorten, said he is a 50-year-old father of seven children who had worked all his life. His marriage has broken down, counsel said.

Shorten (50), of Melrose Crescent, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last month of two counts of rape and one of anal rape.

He had pleaded not guilty to the rape and anal rape of a 19-year-old woman on June 26th, 2022. He also denied the rape of another woman, then aged 20, a couple of months later, on August 9th, 2022.

The prosecution’s case was that each woman found themselves in a taxi after a night out socialising in Dublin city centre where each was raped by the driver, Shorten.

Shorten denied the allegations and said the sexual interactions between him and each of the women was consensual. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts after 76 minutes of deliberation.

In her evidence at trial, the first woman said she drank five pints of cider, an amount she was not used to, on the night of June 25th, 2022.

She described gaps in her memory of her journey home. She recalled waking up in the front passenger seat of a car in the early hours, with a man driving. She said the man moved her to the back seat where he raped her anally and vaginally. He then returned to the driver’s seat and dropped her near her home.

The second woman described going for drinks in Dublin city centre on August 8th, 2022. She was due to stay with a friend, but decided to get a taxi home as she was tired and drunk.

She fell asleep in the back of a taxi and said the next thing she remembered was waking up as the taxi driver was raping her. She said she was in shock and didn’t know how to fight back.

Shorten did not give evidence during the trial but two written statements that he provided following his arrest on separate dates were read to the jury. He claimed the sexual activity with the women in his taxi was consensual and initiated by them.

Both women were examined at a sexual assault treatment unit, and Shorten’s DNA was identified on samples taken during forensic analysis.

The taxi was identified from CCTV. It was leased by Shorten and he was the only person insured to drive it.

In her closing speech to the trial jury, Ms Small suggested there was an “inherent unlikelihood” that two young women would make similar allegations about the same man within a relatively short period of time. Shorten’s account, she submitted, was “ludicrous” and “a farce”.

The man’s job was to bring each woman home safely, but instead he “preyed” on their vulnerabilities and their state of intoxication to have sexual intercourse “without their consent, knowing full well what he was doing”, counsel said.