Gun nut rapist who sparked 16-hour armed stand-off with gardai back on the streets

Convicted rapist Stephen ‘Madser’ Doherty is back on the streets this week after serving five years for possession of firearms at his Dublin home.

Clutching plastic bags with his possessions, he left the Midlands Prison in Co Laois after being collected by a friend.

Doherty, now aged 48, sparked the terrifying incident in October 2018 when he armed himself with a gun after his former home was sprayed with graffiti.

Two youths were reported to have been paid to write “rapist sex offender out” on the walls of the property but only ended up writing “sex out”.

When the pair made a second attempt to vandalise the house Doherty emerged with a gun and the Garda Armed Response Unit were called into action.

The subsequent stand-off lasted for 16 hours with a media black-out requested by gardai as attempts were made to negotiate a peaceful end to the siege in Clondalkin.

Doherty is reported to have thrown a handgun out of his window during the stand-off at the house, which he shared with a number of relatives.

It came to an end at around 1am the following day when armed gardai burst in and arrested him.

A garda spokesperson said at the time that “a Taser device was used and the matter has been referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC)”.

In March 2020, Doherty was given an eight-year sentence with three suspended after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a firearm.

Following the incident gardai expressed their thanks to the residents in St Mark’s Drive which had effectively been locked down while the operation continued.

“A full-scale policing operation was implemented which caused significant disruption to the local residents,” said Supt Paul Dolan after the siege ended.

“As superintendent with responsibility for the area, I wish... to convey my gratitude for the assistance received. To the local residents for their patience, for their cups of tea and coffee to gardai on long tours of duty and for their friendliness throughout the incident.”

In 2004, Doherty was sentenced to 10 years after kidnapping a prostitute and threatening to kill her. He was found guilty by a Central Criminal Court jury after a four day trial of kidnapping, raping and threatening to kill the woman on March, 6, 2000 in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

The attack took place in a renovated building, Riversdale House, which was at one time the residence of the poet W.B. Yeats.

It was heard in court at the time how the victim, a former heroin addict, said Doherty had told her: “I am 27 years old and I have never paid for sex. I am not going to pay now.”

She gave evidence she had agreed a price for sexual services with Doherty in Benburb Street, Dublin, and went with him on his motorcycle to the house in Rathfarnham.

He refused to pay her in advance when she asked and produced a knife which she said he kept in his hand while he raped her and then forced her to perform other sexual acts.

She said he wiped himself on a curtain and brought her back to Benburb Street where he threatened he would return and kill her if she reported what had happened.

She said he didn’t take off his motorbike helmet at any time.

When Doherty left, she called over another prostitute to tell her what had happened.

They reported the rape to two gardai on patrol and she later identified the house and bedroom, but couldn’t describe Doherty because he hadn’t removed his helmet.

The mother-of-two said the trial had been humiliating for her as the evidence given by Doherty had been “demeaning” of her.

The jury heard that DNA evidence from the curtain, the woman’s clothing and a cigarette recovered in Riversdale House linked Doherty and her to the scene.

He denied the allegations when he was arrested four days later.

Doherty agreed that while he planned to have sex with a prostitute that night, he had no money in his pocket.

He said he hadn’t used violence and that the sexual activity was consensual.

Trial Judge Paul Carney noted that Doherty was suggesting he had found a prostitute who provided her services on credit.

“It is well-known all over the world that prostitutes do not do business on credit,” the judge said.