A boy, 13, violently attacked a woman walking alone in Cork City and committed a serious sexual assault. The woman was so badly attacked that her phone’s ‘face ID’ did not recognise her.
The boy followed the woman – who is a stranger to him – as she walked a familiar route to her home address at 11pm after a night out with friends. He, for an unknown reason, got her to the floor, dragged her across the pavement by her hair, and kicked her in the face repeatedly.
At some point, he moved her dress above her waist and moved her panties to the side, but was interrupted. A woman who was driving past noticed that the man was in a strange position with the woman, and then noticed the state of her underwear so stopped her vehicle and confronted him.
“I asked the fellow what was happening, and he said, ‘It’s okay, I have her’. I asked her did she know him, and she said ‘No,’ and then she said, ‘Help me’ – she was sobbing uncontrollably, and she said he was following her.
The gentleman said that ‘Three fellows had kicked the shite out of her and that he had just come upon her’, and then he dropped her down on her bum and he said he was going to go after the three fellows who kicked the shite out of her, and he ran off.”
The witness transported the girl to her car and began wiping the blood of her face as it was significantly swelling. As the victim tried to open her phone, her face was so badly bruised that the ‘face ID’ did not recognise her.
The victim testified during the trial: “I tried to ring my parents but I have facial identification on my phone and the phone wouldn’t open up because I looked so horrendous and when I saw my face on the camera phone later, I just freaked out.”
Paula McCarthy, barrister, said the State will apply to remand the teenager – now 15 – into prison for the sentencing in four weeks’ time.
Sobhan Lankford, defending, said the defendant had never been in trouble with the law.
