A jury has convicted a woman of assaulting a partially-paralysed woman with a wine bottle during an aggravated burglary.
Grace Tormey (22) of Parnell Street, Sallynoggin, Dublin had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to aggravated burglary at Rollins Villas, Sallynoggin on November 16th, 2012.
The victim, Lisa Lee, had previously suffered a stroke and was partially paralysed. She told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that she awoke to hear people banging on her front door.
She and her then partner, Jason Kelly, barricaded themselves into an upstairs bedroom while Tormey and an unidentified man smashed their way into her home.
Mr Kelly jumped out a window to go and get help and Ms Lee was unable to hold the door. Her attackers managed to get into the bedroom and started kicking and punching her.
She was lying on the ground during the attack because of her paralysis.
She said someone pulled out a knife and that Tormey smashed a bottle over the back of her head. She said during the assault, Tormey kicked, punched and pulled lumps out of her hair.
When gardaí arrived at the house they found Tormey “apparently attending” to Ms Lee’s facial wounds. Tormey claimed to gardaí that she had been walking past the house, saw the front door damaged and had come inside to help Ms Lee.
The victim told gardaí that no burglary had taken place and they weren’t needed. Det Garda Darragh Phelan testified that he visited the victim in hospital the next day to see if she was willing then to make a statement about the assault.
She did make a statement and gardaí later arrested Tormey.
After a four-day trial, and one and a half hours of deliberations, a jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty. Judge Patricia Ryan thanked the jurors for their time and care on the case.
She refused a defence application to allow Tormey to remain on bail and remanded her in custody until a sentence hearing next week.