WOMAN FLEES IN FEAR FROM ‘STALKER’ IN CURRACLOE
GARDAI are investigating after a young woman had to flee in terror after being followed by a stranger on Curracloe Beach near the Raven. The 23-year-old woman said she ‘got an awful gut feeling’ after the well-dressed man followed her after they passed each other while walking their dogs.
A 23-year-old woman fled in terror after being followed by a stranger on Curracloe Beach near the Raven.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, said she ‘got an awful gut feeling’ after the welldressed man turned around and followed her after they passed each other while walking their dogs and exchanged brief pleasantries about the weather.
‘I then noticed he had walked about 100 metres up from me and turned back in my direction, and kept looking at me,’ she told this newspaper of last Thursday’s incident.
‘I stayed in the one spot for a few minutes throwing the ball in the sea for my dog and noticed he was hovering behind me over by the dunes, I started walking back towards the car park, he followed,
‘I held back a bit and let him go in front, he kept looking back at me. I got an awful gut feeling at this point, something told me I needed to get away.’
The young woman said the dark-haired man, wearing brand-named clothes, baseball cap, dark stubbly facial hair and who spoke with an Eastern European accent, said nothing as he stood watching her and then began following her as walked up the dunes and along a trail.
‘He started heading up the dunes and was on his way over, but wasn’t saying anything. I’m not easily frightened and he could have always been just some guy walking his dog, but his body language and behaviour just made me not feel right,’ she said, her voice still quavering she she relived the experience.
‘When he followed me through the trail and the thistles and thorns, I just panicked,’ she said.
She said she hadn’t seen anyone else in the area for more than an hour. To get away from the man, the woman said she ran four kilometres back down the beach, looking behind her all the time, and called her dad to pick her up.
There was no sign of the man who she said made her feel very uncomfortable and intimidated.
‘He freaked me right out,’ she said, warning others walking in the area to be vigilant. The incident has been reported to the gardai who are investigating.