This article is from page 6 of the 2014-11-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
A JUDGE is considering imposing a two-year prison term on a woman for what he called a “vicious assault on a completely innocent person”.
The 20-year-old woman pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court on Friday to robbery of a handbag and items with a total value of € 1780 from a woman on O’Connell Street, Ennis on September 2, 2014.
After hearing details of the drink fuelled robbery where the female victim was punched, kicked and pulled to the ground, Judge Gerald Keys said he had in mind a two-year prison sentence.
“This type of carry on has to stop”, the Judge said.
Judge Keys also noted the victim was too intimidated to come to court.
Garda Darren Lynch told the court gardaí met the female victim in a “quite distressed state” after responding to reports of a robbery outside the Old Ground Hotel at around 11.50pm on the night in question.
He said swelling was visible on the woman’s face.
The court heard the victim was walking on O’Connell Street when she noticed someone walking behind her.
As the woman neared the entrance of the hotel, her attacker ran in front of her and asked her for a cigarette.
The woman said she did not smoke and at this point the accused made an attempt to cover her face. Garda Lynch said at this point, the victim became afraid.
He told the court the accused then punched the woman twice, knocking her to the ground.
After attempting to grab the woman’s bag, the accused then kicked her a number of times.
“At that moment she described herself as screaming for help”, Garda Lynch said.
Asked if the woman had been informed of her right to make a victim impact statement, Garda Lynch said she had.
However Garda Lynch said the woman has not been herself since the attack.
He said the victim was afraid to come to court because she knows her attacker.
“She would feel intimidated by coming here,, he added.
The attack was witnessed by a taxi driver.
“He witnessed the attack and the ferociousness of the attack”, Garda Lynch said.
The accused was arrested half a mile away approximately 70 minutes after the robbery.
The accused also discarded the handbag on O’Connell Street and all items were recovered.
The accused was arrested and told gardaí she consumed a f agon of ci der, two bottles of wine and a few cans prior to the robbery.
However Garda Lynch said the woman later minimised the amount she had drunk.
He agreed with Prosecuting Counsel Stephen Coughlan’s view the attack was the product of the accused’s “bad temper and the consumption of liquor”.
Defence Counsel Pat Whyms said his client is “very sorry for what she did”.
Judge Keys said, “I regard this as a vicious assault on a completely innocent person”.
He said he had in mind a two-year sentence. However Judge Keys adjourned f nal sentencing after requesting further clarif cation of issues raised by the defence in relation to the personal circumstances of the accused.
The woman was remanded in custody to appear again in court on November 7.