Two Men Sentenced for Rape in Dungannon Underground Car Park as Judge Praises Victim's Bravery

Two men who admitted raping a young woman in an underground car park in County Tyrone have each been handed a six-year sentence, with a judge describing the attack as a prolonged and humiliating ordeal carried out with a significant degree of planning.

Luis Dos Martins Mariano, 20, of Sloan Street, and Alcino Soares, 21, of Braeside, both in Dungannon, had previously entered guilty pleas to rape. The pair appeared before Downpatrick Crown Court on Thursday by video link from Hydebank prison, where they had been held in custody.

Under the sentence imposed by Judge Richard Green, both men will serve three years behind bars and the remaining three years on licence in the community. The judge said he had weighed a range of mitigating factors, including the men's youth at the time of the offence, their learning difficulties, their guilty pleas, delays in the case and the period they had already spent in prison.

The court heard that the rape occurred on 10 September 2023, when both defendants were 17 years old. The victim was 19 at the time of the attack. Both men had moved to Northern Ireland from East Timor when they were younger, and a Tetum interpreter was present during earlier proceedings to translate the prosecution's account for them.

Judge Green told the court that CCTV footage capturing part of the incident made for disturbing viewing. He commended the victim's bravery in coming forward, describing her as a survivor, and said the impact statement she provided was both eloquent and moving.

In his sentencing remarks, the judge said the woman had been subjected to a prolonged ordeal in which the two men took turns raping her. He noted that it should have been obvious to both defendants that she was intoxicated and therefore less able to recognise the danger she faced, incapable of resisting what he called a cowardly attack and unable to call for help.

Judge Green also said the decision to take the victim to a car park at such a late hour demonstrated a significant degree of planning and foresight on the part of the men.

Details of the attack were outlined during an earlier sentencing hearing held at Dungannon Crown Court on 3 September, when the prosecution set out the victim's account of the night. The court heard that the woman had been on a night out in Dungannon on 9 September 2023. She told the court she had been outside a fast food shop and was quite drunk when she was approached by two males who appeared to be East Timorese.

The victim said her next memory was of both men walking on either side of her down an alleyway that led into a car park. She recalled having difficulty standing and being unable to speak properly. According to the prosecution, she described one of the males starting to rape her while the other kept watch and stood laughing. She also remembered being brought to a corner of the car park, where she was raped a second time. The men eventually left her, and she later got up and made her way out of the car park.

The prosecution told the court that CCTV in the car park had recorded the events and that the footage was consistent with the pleas entered by both defendants. It was clear, the prosecution said, that the victim had been incapacitated and in a vulnerable state. Both men were subsequently arrested.

The case had a lengthy legal history. In March 2025, the pair appeared together at Dungannon Crown Court, where Mariano admitted rape but Soares pleaded not guilty. Numerous adjournments followed, and shortly before Soares was due to stand trial, in October 2025, he changed his plea and admitted rape.

At the Dungannon hearing on 3 September 2026, a defence barrister for Mariano said his client was not disputing the harm caused by the case. The barrister outlined how an expert report had found that Mariano had a moderate learning disability, and argued that the relevant considerations for his client were age, vulnerability and cognitive ability. The defence said there was no challenge to the integrity and strength of the victim and acknowledged that she clearly did not consent. Mariano's barrister said his client had apologised and expressed shame and remorse.

Soares' defence barrister told the court that his client was not fluent in either Tetum or English. An expert report found that this language deficit had created difficulties and affected his understanding of societal norms and morals, the barrister said. Soares also apologised and had accepted his wrongdoing and expressed remorse, the court heard.

In addition to the custodial sentence, both men were ordered to remain on the sex offenders register for life and were disqualified from working with children and young adults.

Police Service of Northern Ireland Ch Insp Steph Finlay described the incident as an appalling and deeply distressing attack on a young woman who should have been able to make her way home safely after meeting with friends. She said the actions of the two men were predatory and degrading and showed a complete disregard for their victim.

The senior officer paid tribute to the tremendous courage the woman had shown throughout what she described as an undoubtedly extremely difficult and traumatic process. She added that the sentences hold both men accountable for their actions, closing a case that had stretched across nearly three years from the night of the attack to the final sentencing.