A man has appeared in court accused of assaulting and falsely imprisoning a woman by tying her up in a remote laneway using duct tape.
Maurice Fitzgerald, 29, of Abbeyview Buttevant, Co Cork appeared before a late sitting of Dublin’s Central Criminal Court this evening.
In total he is accused of four counts of false imprisonment, assault and possession of a claw hammer and duct tape on Meeting House Lane in Dublin on Saturday.
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Dressed in a grey jumper and wearing tracksuit bottoms, Mr Fitzgerald kept quiet during the court hearing.
Giving evidence of arrest charge and caution, Garda Pat Hynes of Bridewell Garda Station said the accused made no reply after caution to each individual charge.
The court heard details of the nature and degree of seriousness of the alleged offences.
It is alleged that on Saturday August 27, Mr Fitzgerald assaulted a woman causing her harm.
Garda Hynes said the accused is alleged to have falsely imprisoned the same woman by tying her hands and feet with duct tape and gagging her by covering her mouth with it.
It is also alleged that he had in his possession duct tape intended to be used and to incapacitate the woman.
Gardai also allege that Mr Fitzgerald had in his possession a claw hammer which was to be used to incapacitate the woman.
The court heard that the maximum sentence on conviction for false imprisonment is life in prison.
The court also heard the alleged evidence to support the charges against Mr Fitzgerald.
The court heard from gardai that he took a train from Cork to Dublin and that he allegedly had no accommodation booked.
Garda Hynes claimed that the accused had messaged four females to arrange to meet up.
He told the court that the accused admitted to purchasing a claw hammer and duct tape.
He also allegedly had two condoms in his possession along with his passport and bank card.
Gardai claim that the alleged incident occurred in “an isolated laneway” and that the alleged victim was knocked unconscious, following an assault.
Gardai spoke to an alleged witness who claimed to have observed a woman lying on the ground with her “feet bound together".
The witness told Gardai that they allegedly heard a female scream “get away from me” and “leave me alone” and also claimed to have heard a male shouting “shut up.”
The accused was also allegedly observed dragging the woman under a parked car “in an attempt to hide her,” Garda Hynes told the court.
When Gardai arrived at the scene, Garda Hynes said the accused made “an attempt to run away” and was “extremely violent and aggressive,” towards officers.
The female victim has to be cut free by gardai, and is alleged to have told them: “He didn’t rape me but it was torture.”
Garda Hynes also told the court that there was CCTV footage of the alleged incident and that he had with him the footage with sound ff the court wished to hear it.
He said that the footage captured “the incident in full” and that the accused was observed allegedly putting duct tape around the ankles of the woman and punching her a number of times.
He is also allegedly observed tying her up and placing duct tape over her mouth.
Garda Hynes stated that the footage also allegedly shows the accused turning the woman over onto her front and using duct tape to tie her hands behind her back.
It then allegedly shows the woman behind dragged begging a parked car and the accused “attempting to flee,” he said.
The court heard that the footage allegedly shows this and also the man’s arrest.
It also has audio in which a woman can be heard saying “get off me, get off me” and can be “heard crying and in distress.”
At that point a solicitor for the accused intervened and said her client would no longer be seeking bail.
The accused was then remanded into custody to appear again before Cloverhill District Court next Friday via video link.
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