Man allegedly held carving knife to escort's throat and robbed her when she refused to give him a hug, court hears

Irish Independent

3 days ago

The court heard that the woman, a makeup artist from England, suffered a deep laceration between her thumb and forefinger and was later told by a doctor she was 'lucky not to lose her thumb and that she had lost a significant amount of blood".
The man, who is aged in his 30s, appeared before Tallaght District Court, where he was remanded in custody.
He is charged with one count of robbery, contrary to Section 14 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001; one count of production of an article, and additional offences under Sections 9(1) and 9(7) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990. The charges relate to the alleged theft of two iPhones, a black handbag, and €1,340 in cash during the incident.
Garda Louise Hayes objected to bail under Section 2 of the Bail Act, citing the serious nature of the offence, the strength of the evidence, and the risk of further offending. She told the court: "The footage shows him violently dragging the injured party from the building while holding a knife".
The alleged incident happened at the man's apartment in South Dublin in the early hours of Sunday, July 27.
The woman told gardaí she had travelled to Dublin from England to visit friends and had posted an ad on an escorting website to earn extra money. She said she arrived at the man's home around 8pm on Saturday night and stayed several hours.
She said they engaged in consensual sexual activity, and that the man was drinking and took cocaine.
Garda Hayes told the court that the woman alleges that around 5am, as she was preparing to leave, the man asked her for a hug. When she declined, he allegedly became aggressive, demanded his money (€1,340) back, and is said to have produced a large carving knife, which he held to her throat before allegedly taking two of her mobile phones.
She managed to escape by telling him her friends were outside, and called 999 once she reached safety. She was taken by ambulance to Tallaght University Hospital, where doctors treated the deep wound to her hand.
Gardaí arrested the accused shortly afterwards. The court heard that a search of the apartment uncovered cash, clothing, a used condom, and one of the woman's missing phones. Blood was still visible at the scene, and investigators took swabs and photographs, the court heard.
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The court was shown CCTV footage from the hallway of the apartment complex. The 35-second clip allegedly shows the man dragging the woman aggressively while holding a knife in his left hand. While viewing the footage, Judge Patricia McNamara remarked: "It's like a carving knife - a large carving knife in his left hand".
Barrister Ciara Ní Ghabhann BL, defending, said the man is due to start a new role with the large multinational tech firm where he currently works.
She said a refusal of bail could cause her client to lose both his job and his home, which could have knock-on effects for his family. She said there was no possibility of contact with the complainant as she had returned to England.
Counsel said her client was willing to comply with strict bail conditions and was 'desperate to return to work'.
However, Judge McNamara said: 'He has the presumption of innocence. But he is charged with two very serious offences that can't be ignored. The seriousness of the alleged offence, the strength of the evidence, and the likely sentence if convicted - for these reasons, under Section 2, I am refusing bail.'
The man was remanded in custody to appear via video link at Cloverhill District Court at 10am on Thursday, July 31.
Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.