A man who bundled a pensioner into the boot of his car while she was out walking early on a winter’s morning in Dublin has been jailed for six years.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court had heard that Martin Gallagher’s victim (70) feared for her life during the incident, which the accused told gardaí was “a joke that went wrong”.
Gallagher (21), of Rusheeny Avenue, Hartstown, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and false imprisonment at Blackhorse Avenue on January 6th, 2020. He has one previous conviction for speeding.
The trial heard the woman was walking along the road at around 7.30am when Gallagher grabbed her from behind and threw her into the open boot of his parked vehicle. He made several attempts to close the boot, slamming it onto the woman’s shins but she continued to sit back up and he failed to close it.
Gallagher then pulled the woman out of the boot and attempted to put her into the front of the car, but she continued to fight him off and scream. He ultimately threw her against a wall before driving off.
He claimed to gardaí that he had been drinking all the previous day and had mistaken the woman as she walked by for his friend ‘Alex’. He said he thought it would be funny to give ‘Alex’ a fright and throw him into the boot. He said he was surprised when he realised the person was female and pushed her to one side.
Limited capacity
Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, defending Gallagher, said her client has a very limited intellectual capacity and was “intoxicated to an extraordinary extent” at the time. She said he is “desperately sad for what he has done” and knows he “has to take the medicine” from the court.
Judge Martin Nolan had adjourned sentencing overnight to allow him time to consider it and on Wednesday said the woman had endured a “a terrifying experience” with a man attempting to “kidnap” her.
He said it seems it is “a pretty sinister crime” and that “we do not know what was going on in his mind”.
Judge Nolan said he found Gallagher’s explanation for the crime “implausible” and disregarded it. He noted the accused had a low-level of intellectual ability, but said there was no doubt that Gallagher “is bright enough to know the difference between right and wrong”.
He said Gallagher deserved “a pretty long” time in custody and sentenced him to six years imprisonment.
Bravery
After passing sentence, Judge Nolan told the woman, who was present in court, that she “behaved very bravely” and he thinks she surprised the accused with her “resilience and strength”. He said he hoped she got over the incident and wished her luck.
Det Sgt Maeve Ward read out the woman’s victim impact statement in which she said her life changed that day in a way she never thought it would.
The former swimming teacher, who was acting as full-time carer for her husband who had been suffering from dementia, would regularly get up early to go for a walk before her husband woke. Her husband died in October last year.
She said God was on her side that day and he knew she had to get out of the car boot. She said she still has scars on her shins from where Gallagher repeatedly tried to slam the boot on her and her face was left “black and blue” from the struggle.
Nightmares
The woman said her “heart jumps” when a runner goes by when she is walking and she still suffers from nightmares.
Referring to a passing motorist who stopped after seeing Gallagher struggling with what he thought was a child at the car, she said “only God knows what could have happened if that man had not seen my legs”.
She described being happy before the attack, saying that she was a wife, a mother and a grandmother. She said she was a fit woman, having previously been a swimming teacher and was doing 10km walks and 2km swims before the attack. She said her level of fitness was the reason she “got out of that car boot”.
“He took me from behind. I looked into his face as I lay in that boot. I was afraid for my life,” she concluded her statement.