Allegedly beat up escorts

A BUSINESSMAN has been accused of ‘deliberately targeting’ two escorts in a violent attack in an apartment where one of the women was rolled up in a rug that was left covered in blood.

The escort workers were allegedly imprisoned in a Dublin city centre apartment and badly beaten, requiring hospital treatment for wounds including facial injuries.

Father-of-one Wojciech Kazmierczak (42) is alleged to have been the ‘main aggressor’ in the attack carried out by two men.

He was refused bail and had the case against him adjourned when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

Mr Kazmierczak, of The Oaks, Rathnew, Co Wicklow, is charged with two counts of assault causing harm and two counts of falsely imprisoning the women at the Corn Exchange, Dublin 2, on August 24 last.

Objecting to bail, Garda Fionnuala Lawlor cited the seriousness of the allegations.

‘ Two escort workers were targeted specifically because of their vulnerable nature and that they would not report it,’ Gda Lawlor told Judge Treasa Kelly.

It was alleged the two women were seriously assaulted and the accused took a photo of one of them and threatened her not to report the matter to gardaí.

The incident was only discovered when a member of the public saw the women afterwards and was ‘so concerned’ by their appearance.

The court heard two men were alleged to have been involved in the attack and Mr Kazmierczak was alleged to have been the larger man, described as the ‘main aggressor’ by the two women.

Statements were taken from the alleged victims on August 25, when they were well enough to be released from hospital.

Gardaí had since harvested CCTV footage from eight different locations which purported to show the accused arriving at and leaving the apartment building in a car which was registered to his wife.

He was a named driver on the insurance policy, the court heard.

Gda Lawlor said at various stages on the CCTV, the accused was seen wearing a mask but the mask was also pulled down. The footage was ‘excellent’ and the garda identified Mr Kazmierczak.

Clothing was seized, including a ‘very distinctive jumper’, the court heard.

Fingerprints and DNA samples had been sent for forensic analysis, which was awaited.

Gda Lawlor said she strongly believed Mr Kazmierczak would not stay in Ireland to face the charges and said he had travelled to Poland in January this year.

The women allegedly targeted were ‘very vulnerable’, she said.

She handed pictures of the women’s injuries in to court, as well as a photo of a ‘rug used to roll up the injured party, covered in blood and hair’.

Gda Lawlor added that there could be further serious charges in the case.

Applying for bail, defence barrister Kitty Perle said the accused owned a registered business here - a landscape gardening company - and had ties to Ireland, where his daughter was in school, was fully integrated and ‘ barely speaks Polish’.

The fact he may have gone to Poland on holidays at some stage ‘is neither here nor there’, she added.

The garda’s assertion that she feared for the general public was ‘simply ridiculous’ and the accused was prepared to abide by bail conditions.

Judge Kelly said the accused was presumed innocent but the charges were serious and as the investigation was ongoing she would refuse bail ‘for now’.

She remanded Mr Kazmierczak in custody, to appear at Cloverhill District Court next week.