Man guilty of sex attacks on two women he met on Tinder

His last-minute plea of guilty followed a legal ruling on Monday morning which would allow the prosecution to introduce evidence from two other women of Nevin attacking them on a first date.

Yesterday morning, Nevin pleaded guilty to the rape of a woman at Bellewstown, Co Meath, on July 12, 2014, and to sexual assaulting a second woman at an unknown place in Co Meath on July 16, 2014.

The former UCD student was convicted by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last December of sexually assaulting a third woman — a Brazilian student — after driving her to the UCD campus in south Dublin on July 23, 2014.

In 2001, Nevin was jailed for seven years after killing his girlfriend’s two dogs and then threatening to kill her.

Nevin asked Jennifer Arkins how she would like to die — by choking or by stabbing — when he subjected her to a terrifying ordeal of choking, hitting her with a brick, kicking her in the head, punching her, and spitting in her face. Ms Arkins suffered a fractured skull and serious cuts and bruises to her face.

Nevin also has a previous conviction for rape from Denmark. He was a minor in 1999 when he was convicted of rape and aggravated rape.

It has now also emerged that Nevin settled a €60,000 personal injuries claim in the Circuit Civil Court seven months ago but at the time could not be identified due to outstanding rape and sexual assault charges against him.

Nevin has been in custody since his conviction last December but had addresses at Meadowlands Court, Mounttown Rd, Dún Laoghaire, and Dundalk, Co Louth. He will be sentenced on July 26, when victim impact reports will be given to the court.

During legal argument last week, Nevin’s lawyers asked the court to order media organisations to remove reports of previous trials and offending. Ms Justice Creedon ruled against the defence application, saying the court was not satisfied there was a real risk of an unfair trial if the material was not taken down.

As part of a second legal issue, prosecuting counsel submitted that the evidence of all three assaults was relevant to the case, as a similar methodology was used. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said the court had to strike a balance between the probative value of such evidence and its prejudicial effect.

She said because of the similarity in the modus operandi she would accede to the request to include the evidence.

Evidence of the two offences to which Nevin yesterday pleaded guilty will be heard at the sentencing date next month.

The evidence of the Brazilian woman, now aged 35, was heard during the trial last December. She had just arrived in Ireland and wanted to meet Irish people to practice her English.

After some weeks of communicating with Nevin on the Tinder dating programme and on Whatsapp, she arranged to meet him. He told her he would take her to a place that had the “best coffee in Dublin” but Nevin later told gardaí he saw the date as a “hook-up” for sex.

Nevin picked her up in his car, a blue BMW, and drove her to a secluded field on UCD campus. The woman said that his demeanour then “changed completely” and he became aggressive.

She said he became like “a monster”. She said he attacked her and she was in fear of her life and thought Nevin was going to rape her.

In his closing speech, Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, had told the jurors they might feel the woman was naive, foolish, and awfully stupid but that did not give anyone the right to attack her.

He said simply agreeing to meet someone does not make them fair game. He said at no stage did the complainant show an interest in meeting the man for sex.

“Everyone has the right to say no to sexual advances,” said Mr Burns. “No-one is entitled to force themselves on another.”