Slawomir Gierlowski convicted of attacks on three women

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Slawomir Gierlowski was convicted at the Circuit Criminal Court of nine charges arising from attacks on three women around Clondalkin, Dublin. The charges included false imprisonment, sexual assault and assault.

He had pleaded not guilty to the nine charges. The proceedings were reported on 23 March 2018.

The jury returned guilty verdicts on six charges on the evening of 22 March 2018. On the morning of 23 March, after a further 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury found him guilty on the remaining three charges in unanimous verdicts.

The jury heard that the first woman was attacked in September 2011 and the second in September 2015. A third attack took place at Knockmeenagh Lane on 16 May 2016; the woman fought back against an attacker armed with a hunting knife and suffered a serious hand injury.

Gardaí linked a van seen in the area to Gierlowski. His DNA was linked to the 2016 scene and to samples from the women attacked in 2011 and 2015. Defence counsel Orla Crowe said there were inherent frailties in the case and urged the jury to use caution when considering the DNA evidence.

Judge Pauline Codd praised the investigating gardaí and commended the three women for their strength and courage. Gierlowski was to be sentenced at a later date after the court heard victim impact statements from the women.