GARDAI investigating the murder of Ms Belinda Pereirra are understood to have been told of a severe beating given to another prostitute.
The other young woman, who also travelled from England to Dublin regularly to work as a prostitute, was very badly beaten some months ago but did not report the assault to gardai because of her illegal circumstances.
The man who is alleged to have carried out this beating is in his 30s. He is also known to have been associated with Ms Pereira, whose body was found in a city centre apartment on December 29th. She had been beaten to death.
The man has a number of addresses in south Dublin and is described by gardai as a pimp and minor criminal with drug dealing connections. He has a long list of traffic infringements but had not previously come to Garda attention for any serious crime.
Gardai are aware that the man demanded sexual favours from prostitutes whom he located in city centre apartments.
The investigation of Ms Pereira's death has been largely devoted to tracing back the large numbers of calls made to the mobile telephone number which was given in an advertisement in a magazine for the prostitute service for which she worked.
According to a report yesterday, 438 calls were made to the number between December 8th and December 28th. Ms Pereira had worked over Christmas, having arrived in Dublin on Christmas Eve. She was due to return to London on New Year's Day, where she also worked as a prostitute.
A number of Ms Pereira's clients have come forward voluntarily to gardai but some have still to be traced. Gardai have asked anyone who had contact with Ms Pereira and who has not contacted them to come forward. All contacts will be treated confidentially.
Meanwhile, prayers were said at masses yesterday for Ms Pereira in the parish of the Sacred Heart in Wimbledon. She had grown up in Wimbledon and attended the Ursuline convent there. No reports of her death have been carried in the British media and staff at the school and parishioners were unaware of her death.
Ms Pereira was one of many woman who travel from British cities to Dublin to work as prostitutes.