A man has been jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a Spanish woman in the ladies toilet at a fast food restaurant in Cork.
Philip Kelly (26), of Glenfields Park, Ballyvolane, was sentenced to three years in jail with one year suspended for the sexual assault on the woman on August 4th 2014.
Det Garda Colin Greenway told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that Kelly hid in the ladies toilet of McDonald's on Patrick Street for some time before attacking the woman.
The assault happened at 3.30am on the day in question after the young woman had gone into a cubicle in the ladies and locked it behind her when she heard a bang on the door.
“The door was hit so hard the lock on the door fell on the floor. She was tying her trousers when he grabbed her by the head and put her on the ground,” said Det Garda Greenway. “She shouted for help. He removed her trousers and underwear. He banged her face and head on the ground and put his fingers in her vagina while he put his other hand over her mouth.”
Screams heard
The court heard the woman escaped after two others entered the toilets having heard screams for help and then notified security. The security man held on to Kelly until gardaí arrived and arrested him. He was later interviewed and made admissions regarding the assault.
Kelly told gardaí that he had gone into the ladies toilet some time before and went into a cubicle and was looking over the top at women using the other cubicle.
Det Garda Greenway said that Kelly had a number of previous convictions including one for a serious physical assault on a woman in 2012 for which he received a three year sentence.
He also had a conviction for indecency from 2011 where he went into the ladies toilet at the Bus Éireann station in Cork and looked over a cubicle partition at a woman using the toilet.
‘Psychological problem’
Judge Seán Ó Donnabhain said it was worrying that Kelly had been able to conceal himself in the ladies toilet for so long before carrying out the sexual assault.
“There are disturbing aspects of voyeuristic behaviour in the manner in which he secreted himself in the toilets and waited for this lady to come in,” he said.
What was particularly disturbing was his previous convictions and Kelly’s entire history of offending betrayed “an underlying psychological problem,” said Judge Ó Donnabhain.
Although the young woman had not returned from Spain to make a formal complaint to gardaí, Kelly had pleaded guilty and that was to his credit, the judge added.
He sentenced Kelly to three years in jail but suspended the final year on condition that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service upon his release.
