A serial offender who bound and gagged a woman with duct tape and dragged her down a city centre laneway has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was shown shocking footage of the attack, which was captured by a doorbell camera at Meeting House Lane in Dublin city centre last August.
The attack was stopped when residents heard the woman shouting and the sound of duct tape being used.
They alerted gardaí who arrived in time to stop the attack and arrest the man.
Maurice Fitzgerald, 29, of Abbeyview, Buttevant, Co Cork pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to the 26-year-old woman.
He had a number of previous convictions, including sexual assault and false imprisonment in which he had used duct tape to incapacitate a woman.
Fitzgerald had been released from prison a year before the latest attack.
Garda Patrick Hynes told the court their investigation, which included a review of CCTV and Fitzgerald's phone and bank records, revealed he had travelled from Cork to Dublin on 27 August 2022 and bought duct tape and a claw hammer in a Dealz shop.
He was observed drinking in pubs around the city centre and engaging with various women, one of whom had served him in the shop earlier and later met him for a drink before he walked her to her bus stop.
He then met the 26-year-old victim on the street and returned to a pub to retrieve his bag containing the duct tape and claw hammer.
Fitzgerald was seen on CCTV "messing" with the woman and giving her a piggyback while walking in the city centre.
She appeared unsteady on her feet and Fitzgerald tried, but did not succeed, to hail a taxi. The last sighting on CCTV showed them arriving at Meeting House Lane.
Residents heard duct tape being used
Residents who had their windows open because it was a warm night heard the sound of duct tape being used and looked out to see a woman on the ground whose ankles appeared to be tied.
They saw she was trying to stand up and heard her shouting "get off me" before the man laughed at her.
Another resident heard a woman shout "leave me alone" and a man telling her to "shut up".
Gardaí were called and arrived minutes later to see the man dragging the woman behind a vehicle.
When gardaí shouted, he dropped the woman on the ground and ran down the laneway but was apprehended.
The woman was found to be in a very distressed state with her ankles bound and her hands taped behind her back. She was also gagged with duct tape, which had to be cut off with a knife.
The woman was incoherent and could only tell gardaí her first name.
Victim remains in hospital
She was taken to hospital but was never in a position to give a statement. Having previously suffered from a psychiatric illness, she has remained in hospital since.
Fitzgerald was arrested and interviewed six times. At first, he said he had bought the duct tape for work, but later told gardaí he could not fully remember what happened, but accepted he was guilty.
A search of his phone found various photographs of women bound and gagged with duct tape.
These were stock images taken from the internet or social media. There was also a photo of an unknown woman that Fitzgerald had been seen on CCTV taking on the Luas.
The court was told the woman did not make a victim impact statement, but her father had submitted a brief one on her behalf. It was not read out in court.
Defence Counsel Michael Bowman told the court his client had spent a considerable amount of his 20s in custody and had pleaded guilty at an early stage and had apologised.
Mr Bowman said there was no suggestion of violence using an implement and his client had saved the woman the further difficulty of coming to court.
He said the images found on the man's phone were professional photographs of women who were named and had described themselves in various terms, including "bondage lover", and there was no suggestion of male presence or violence in the photographs.
Mr Bowman asked the court to consider suspending a portion of the sentence. He said his client had been working in construction in a job facilitated by a family member.
'Unhealthy and criminal obsessions' - Judge
Judge Martin Nolan said it was clear that Fitzgerald came to Dublin that day with a plan to take a woman and was prepared to use force.
He said it was a particularly insidious crime and the accused had insidious tendencies judging by what was found on his phone.
Judge Nolan said Fitzgerald had certain obsessions, which to put them at their mildest, were very unhealthy and criminal.
Had residents and gardaí not been alerted, the judge had no doubt something very serious would have occurred.
The judge said every case had to be treated on its own merits and while this was a serious case, he could not engage in preventative detention.
"I cannot detain him forever because of an apprehension that he will not change his habits although I hope he will," the judge said.
He said he must punish the offence and taking into account the mitigating factor of his guilty plea he imposed a ten-year sentence.
The judge suspended the final 18 months on condition Fitzgerald be of good behaviour while in custody and be supervised by the Probation Service for five years after his release.
