Woman Dragged, Strangled And Told She Was Going To Die By Romanian Construction Worker During Sexual Assault

Tuesday, 20 August 2024 22:26

By Martin Osborne

The woman suffered injuries to her face and neck, with the man shouting that he would kill her.

A woman was followed, dragged into a park, strangled and told she was going to die during a sexual assault in Dublin on Monday, a court has heard.

Marius Lacatus, a 32 year old Romanian construction worker living in Dublin for the past three years, has been charged with sexual assault and assault causing harm.

The woman was was dragged into a park and sexually assaulted shortly after 6am on Monday, the court heard.

Mr Lacatus was arrested at 7.13 am and taken to a Garda station.

The court heard gardai had CCTV evidence, which was shown to the accused, and DNA samples were taken from him.

The hearing was told the woman suffered injuries to her face, a large amount of muscle damage to her neck and the man allegedly shouted throughout the incident that he would kill her.

The garda said directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions were outstanding, and there could be further serious charges.

The officer also objected to bail, he said due to thestablishede strength of evidence, the accused was a flight risk and the seriousness of the case.

However the Judge said the garda had not established Mr Lacatus was a flight risk, and bail could be granted with a 500 euro bond and an independent surety of 3,000 euro.

He can only be released when the surety is lodged, after which he must stay at an address provided to the court, provide contact details to Gardai, surrender travel documents and obey a curfew of 7am to 11pm each day.

The accused did not address the court and has not entered a plea.

He's due to appear before the Cloverhill District Court on August 27th.