Airline hostess viciously assaulted at hotel

AN American airline hostess was viciously assaulted in a four-star Limerick hotel by a man who had been with a party of mourners returning from a funeral.

The airline worker had flown into Shannon earlier in the day with an American Trans Airline flight taking US troops to the Middle East. Gardaí are satisfied that the attack was not related to the airline’s work with the US military.

The assault happened at the South Court Hotel, Raheen, at around 9pm on Tuesday night after the woman left the hotel restaurant and went to the toilet.

It is believed her attacker follower her and brutally assaulted her after she had ignored his advances in the restaurant.

She was taken to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital by ambulance.

Gardaí met with her yesterday afternoon and took a detailed statement.

Staff and other guests heard the woman’s screams for help during the assault.

The man who carried out the assault had earlier attended the funeral of a young Traveller, Noreen Casey, 16, who died in a single car crash on Sunday.

She lived at a halting site in Boher.

The attacker is a member of a family which has been involved in numerous violent attacks in pubs in the Limerick area.

“This man was staggering around and seemed very drunk. He approached the airline worker who was with a colleague. He was making a nuisance of himself and she went to the ladies’ toilet, but he followed her there and attacked her,” one eyewitness said.

Rick Hightower, senior spokesman for ATA airlines, said they were very saddened at what happened.

He said: “Shannon is one of the favourite stopovers in the world for our crews. The most important thing is she is going to be fine. I think she wants to get back to work as soon as possible. We try to take care of our crew. Unfortunately this person decided to do this. We will be talking to the hotel people and get an investigation report to see what happened and to ensure it does not happen again.”

David Byrne, sales and marketing director of the Lynch Hotel Group, owners of the South Court, said: “An incident occurred last evening at approximately 8.45pm at the South Court Hotel where a female guest was injured. Gardaí and medical personnel were called by the management of the hotel and responded quickly. The injured guest was taken to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital and checked and released at 11pm approximately. Gardaí at Roxboro are investigating.”

Asked why security did not take action when a man was seen approaching guests in an intoxicated state, Mr Byrne said it was their policy not to comment on individual matters involving guests.