Gardai are investigating an alleged rape in the early hours of Saturday morning in Drogheda. A 42-year-old woman told them she was raped by a man she met at a disco in the town who subsequently offered her a lift home.
Gardai are taking the complaint seriously and the woman underwent an examination in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.
After the disco, the man, who is also in his 40s, began to drive to the village of Collon instead of dropping the woman home. He stopped the car and she alleges he sexually assaulted her when she rejected his advances.
On the same night a young woman was attacked in Drogheda by a man who attempted to sexually assault her. Gardai believe it is the fourth attack on women in the last two months by the same man.
The woman was walking home alone around 1.45 a.m. when the man grabbed her by the shoulder and dragged her up a laneway off Trinity Street. He tried to remove her clothing but the woman fought him off and managed to escape. The description and method of attack are similar to that of a man behind three sexual assaults on women in recent weeks. In each case the woman was walking home alone and was grabbed from behind.
Gardai arrested and questioned a local man about the assaults and a file is being prepared for the DPP.