I had to sit alone in court while my stalker stared on
Student Eve McDowell was made sit on her own due to Covid-19 rules... while her stalker was with his father
A STUDENT who was stalked by a ‘dangerous young man’ has told the Irish Mail on Sunday she is frustrated our court system appears to ‘protects perpetrators’.
Eve McDowell told how she was sitting in court alone because of Covid-19 restrictions, while the man who stalked her and attacked her friend with a hammer had his father with him for support.
Ms McDowell told the Irish Mail on Sunday it was frustrating that ‘everything done through the court system seems to protect the perpetrators’.
‘I don’t think this gets highlighted enough in the media so I’m glad it is starting to get some coverage,’ she said.
Ms McDowell wrote on Twitter during a sentencing hearing last month: ‘Currently sitting in court alone due to Covid-19 restrictions. I am forbidden to bring anyone with me which I can understand for health precautions. But my perpetrator’s father is allowed to support him.
‘This legal system is so insensitive and does not protect victims.’
She added that adjournments ‘retraumatise’ victims.
‘On top is this, the case has been adjourned once again due to the disorganisation of the court system. Victims of crime are re-traumatised every time they attend sittings, there is no consideration for the well-being of victims. It seems all supports are in place ‘The courts don’t seem to understand’ for the perpetrators.’
Speaking to the MoS after her stalker was sentenced to seven years in prison at the end of last month, she told how her father was allowed to be with her for the final court sitting.
‘I am assuming the courts saw the tweet also as they allowed my father in to the courts at the final sentencing,’ she said.
‘The courts don’t seem to understand that every time they adjourn a case that the victims are retriggered and must relive the trauma.’
Last week, Ms McDowell’s 21-yearold stalker was jailed for seven years, with the final two suspended.
The conduct of Igor Lewandowski, from Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, was described as ‘sinister’ by the probation service and his expressions of remorse ‘shallow’ by medical experts.
Lewandowski was a second-year electronic engineering student at NUI Galway when he became obsessed with Ms McDowell, 20, and began stalking and harassing her incessantly over a 17-day period last May.
He changed his appearance by shaving off his hair, eyebrows and beard when her friends pointed out to him during one stalking episode that he was easily recognisable. He was arrested shortly after breaking into her apartment and assaulting her flatmate with a hammer early one morning and has remained in custody since.
Lewandowski pleaded guilty last November at Galway Circuit Criminal Court to harassing Ms McDowell at her student accommodation at Dun na Coiribe, Headford Road, Galway, and also at various other locations around Galway city on dates between May 10 and May 27, 2019.
He also pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated burglary by breaking into her apartment at Dun na Coiribe on May 27 last year, while having a claw hammer with him which he used to assault her flatmate Alison Buicke, causing her harm.
The accused had moved from Poland to Monasterevin with his family´10 years ago and secured 565 points in his Leaving Cert.
In her victim impact statement read to the court last November, Ms McDowell said she feared for her life if Lewandowski was released from custody. She said the court process had been very long but she encouraged others who may be victims of stalking to come forward and make a complaint to gardaí.
Passing sentence, Judge Rory McCabe noted that Lewandowski’s conduct violated ‘a number of moral and social boundaries’ and that he was not suffering from any serious mental disorder, having been assessed by two psychologists and a forensic psychiatrist.
‘They had concurred the accused displayed a lack of genuine empathy for his victims and that his expression of remorse was shallow. His conduct and attitude has shown him to be a dangerous young man,’ Judge McCabe said.
‘Displayed a lack of genuine empathy’