Victim tells court how she feared for her life

A VIOLENT thug convicted of carrying out a series of random and brutal attacks on women has been jailed for 18-and-a-half years.

Judge Pauline Codd described the assaults carried out by the 34-yearold as primal and calculated and said “he is clearly a dangerous man”.

One of the victims said she thought she was going to die in the attack.

The defendant, a foreign national, targeted the women between 2011 and 2016 in the Clondalkin area of West Dublin.

Two of the incidents involved a sexual assault and took place late at night as the victims walked home after a night out.

The last attack was carried out in daylight as the victim Ruth Maxwell was walking to the Luas on her way to work.

The defendant put a hunting knife to her throat at Knockmeenagh Lane, not far from where the other two incidents occurred.

Reading her victim impact statement to the court, Ms Maxwell said she feels she will never recover from her ordeal. She suffered a life-changing injury to her hand when fighting off the knife attack and added she has cried so much for the loss of her hand.

She said: “I know how hard I fought when he attacked me. I thought I was going to die and I remember feeling it might be for the best.

“My spirit is broken and I’m afraid of people and crowds. The physical and emotional hurt and pain has continued for two years and will probably continue to manifest itself in some form daily for the rest of my life.”

After a three-week trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, a jury of 11 men unanimously found the defendant guilty of carrying out the three attacks.

Judge Codd said the violence was brutal and primal and added the accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had shown no remorse.

She commended the courage and dignity of the complainants and said: “I trust and hope they can rebuild their lives.”