A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Limerick criminal who, it was claimed in court, beat his girlfriend and threatened to petrol-bomb her home just days after he was released on bail.
Ray Constable (18), of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court last month to a number of charges relating to an incident last April where a man was held at knife-point and had €700 stolen from him.
The court heard that Constable had invited Oliver Quinn (25), a biochemist from Co Offaly, back to his house for a party where he then threatened him at knife-point to hand over his ATM card and punched him several times in the face during a three-hour ordeal.
At the time Judge Carroll Moran had expressed concern that Constable - who has a number of previous convictions - would stick to his resolve to stay out of trouble, and he adjourned the question of bail until after Christmas.
Brendan Nix SC, defending, told Judge Moran that his client had met a new girlfriend who had begun writing to him and visiting him for five months while he was in jail, and who was willing to start a new life with him in Co Clare if he was released from custody.
Mr Nix said his client, who had been in custody since last April, would be lost if he was to receive a custodial sentence, and asked that he be given a chance to build a new life with his new girlfriend.
Last Wednesday Judge Moran granted Constable bail pending his sentencing hearing next month, after hearing details of his new address in Ennis from his girlfriend, Deborah Hamm.
However, yesterday at Limerick Circuit Court, Ms Hamm (24), told Judge Moran that Constable had "given her a beating" last Saturday night when they were staying with a friend in Limerick.
She said she had to go to hospital on Sunday as a result of the injuries she suffered and told the court that she was in "severe pain" and is "petrified" since the incident.
"He told me if I was in court today that he would petrol-bomb the flat that I'm staying in," she said.
When asked if she knew where Constable was now, Ms Hamm replied "no" and said she had not seen him since Sunday.
Antoinette Simons, defending, told Judge Moran that perhaps the "foreboding" he had in relation to her client had been correct.
Judge Moran said it would not be proper to comment on the case as Constable was not in court. He ordered that a bench warrant be issued for his arrest.