Courts / Dublin / Report

Violent sex attacker came to capital with plan to abduct woman

Date
2023-03-30

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Maurice Fitzgerald, 29, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to false imprisonment and assaulting a 26‑year‑old woman with chronic schizophrenia on 27 August. The court heard he travelled from Cork to Dublin, bought duct tape and a claw hammer, and planned to abduct the victim. Gardaí were called when residents heard tape being wrapped and the victim screaming. Fitzgerald dragged her, bound her with tape, and gagged her in an alleyway. He was restrained, cuffed, and a knife was used to free tape from her mouth. The victim was taken to Mater Hospital, then transferred to a Midlands hospital under the Mental Health Act. Fitzgerald's prior convictions and guilty plea were noted, and he was ordered to comply with probation for five years post‑release. The sentence was back‑dated to the day of the offence.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Violent sex attacker came to capital with plan to abduct woman. Charges or matters: falsely imprisoning and assaulting the woman, causing harm last August 27, at Meeting House Lane, off Mary's Abbey. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

August 27 Hearing Or Sentence
July 2016 Incident
2023-03-30 Publication

Why: However, Judge Nolan added that the court was not "in the business of preventative detention" and could not detain someone because it had the apprehension that he would not change his habits. CNI source report

Case subjects

Maurice Fitzgerald

Convicted Person

Charges: falsely imprisoning and assaulting the woman, causing harm last August 27, at Meeting House Lane, off Mary's Abbey (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Maurice Fitzgerald (29) of Abbeyview in Buttevant has been jailed for eight and a half years after he pleaded guilty to falsely imprisoning and assaulting the woman, causing harm last August 27, at Meeting House Lane, off Mary's Abbey. He was sentenced to four years in prison in July 2016 for an incident in Kerry where he befriended a woman and used duct tape to incapacitate her.