Woman sexually assaulted in Cork park feared death – and imagined her daughter identifying her body

Vadim Veste, 28, has pleaded guilty to the attack – he had travelled to Ireland from Moldova just weeks after prison release for rape of a minor

• 13:51, 13 MAR 2023
• UPDATED14:13, 13 MAR 2023

A woman who was out walking her dog when she was dragged to the ground by a man who sexually assaulted her has told a court that she thought she was going to die during the terrifying ordeal.

Vadim Veste, 28, formerly of Clancy Street in Fermoy, Co Cork, appeared before the Central Criminal Court in Cork last month where he pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a woman in her fifties at St Colman’s Park on November 7 2021.

He pulled the woman to the ground from behind by placing his hands over her shoulder and her mouth and pulling her backwards into a dark, unlit part of a walkway. He punched her and placed his hand under her dress.

The court heard that Veste, who is a Moldovan national who also has Romanian citizenship, had travelled to Ireland just over a fortnight after he was released from prison for the rape of a minor.

Mr Veste had served a three-year prison sentence in Moldova for the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The rape occurred in 2016. Mr Veste also has drug convictions and convictions for breaking and entering in Moldova. He arrived in Ireland on December 29 2020 having been released from prison 18 days earlier.

Today at the court the victim said that she thought her daughter would end up having to identify her body in the park. She assumed she would die in the course of the ordeal.

She said that the assault had changed her life and that she was forever grateful to the two men in the park who had come to her assistance.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott heard that the woman, who is in her fifties, had been out walking her dog at around 6.30pm on November 7 2021 when she was grabbed from behind by Mr Veste.

The woman said she got a smell of sweat and cigarettes and then Veste put a hand over her mouth.

“I tried to fight. He made me get on to the ground and forced his body and knees on me in the pitch dark. I managed to kick him. He managed to put a weight over my mouth and something on to my nose. I thought I was going to die.

“I could feel my breathing stop. I couldn’t breathe. I started to scream. He clenched his fist and put it in my mouth and tore my lips. He tried to loosen my teeth. With all my strength I fought back.

“I didn’t want to die. I actually thought he was going to kill me. I screamed and begged and pleaded with him to stop. He kept squeezing my mouth. He squeezed and squeezed tighter on my nose. I looked up. I couldn’t breathe.

“He managed to squeeze and squeeze tighter. I just punched him. Thank God somebody came to my rescue. Thank God I survived to be here today. He is a very, very dangerous man.

“I actually thought I was going to die. All I could do was keep thinking about my daughter. I was thinking about my little girl having to come to the pitch to identify my body.”

The woman told the court that she had given up going for walks in the aftermath of the incident. She said that the man was a very worrying individual to have in the community.

“This man is very dangerous. I do believe he would have gone on to kill someone. He tried to rape and suffocate me.

“It [the assault] left me in fear of everything. I feel the fear constantly. I was a very confident person but not any more. I will not go out after dark.”