Man ‘punched woman in face after she woke in van with just a T-shirt on’, court told

Story by Andrew Phelan • 7h ago

Aman who was drinking with a woman in a van began punching her in the face “without warning” after she passed out and woke up dressed in just a T-shirt, it is alleged.

The woman, who had nothing on the lower half of her body, ran screaming from the converted van in south Dublin where the pair had earlier been “socialising”, a court heard.

The accused (41), was refused bail and remanded in custody when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

The man, a father-of-one, is charged with assault causing harm to the woman and breaching a protection order she had already taken out against him on a date earlier this month.

He cannot be named because of the domestic violence charge.

The prosecuting garda said when he arrested the accused in south Dublin and charged him, he replied: “This is bulls**t.”

The garda said further, more serious charges were being considered.

Objecting to bail, he outlined the allegations against the accused.

He said the man and woman were “personally known” to each other and had been socialising in a converted van the accused used to reside in.

They were both drinking alcohol and the woman passed out. When she woke up, the garda alleged, she was wearing only a T-shirt and nothing on the lower half of her body.

It was alleged the accused grabbed her wrists, began shaking her and “without warning punched her twice in the face.”

She ran out and rang a neighbour’s doorbell, screaming for help before making her way to a nearby pub where staff assisted her until gardaí arrived.

The woman suffered facial injuries including a swollen jaw and swelling and bleeding to her lip.

The accused was found sitting in a nearby van and was arrested.

The court heard he was a foreign national with no fixed address, was living under a bridge and had been in Ireland for a number of years. He had “sporadic employment.”

He did not appear to have any strong links to the jurisdiction, the garda said.

Barrister Kevin McCrave applied for bail, saying bail could not be refused because of an inability to provide an address.

Judge John King refused bail and remanded the accused in custody to Cloverhill District Court.