‘Three brave children’ praised for actions during attempted abduction

A circuit court judge praised the actions of three brave children, the gardaí, and the local community as he jailed a man for 13 years for trying to abduct a girl in Co Laois last March.

Michael Martin, aged 36, a Dublin native with an address at Shandon Court, Yellow Road, Waterford City, was sentenced to 17 years with four suspended for false imprisonment at Portlaoise Circuit Court yesterday. He had 92 previous convictions at the time of the offence.

Judge Keenan Johnson said: “The detection and apprehension of the accused was a great piece of detective work, which was aided by the keen observations of three children.”

The children, twin boys aged 10 and their 11-year-old sister, had been playing at Cullohill, Co Laois, when Martin approached them and, after starting a conversation, grabbed the girl “by her waist and put her feet first into the jeep through the driver’s door, depositing her on the front passenger seat”, said Judge Johnson.

The girl struggled and one of her brothers jumped onto the driver’s side of the jeep. He “continued to tackle the accused and to distract him. He was punching at the accused as he got into the driver’s seat,” said Judge Johnson.

The boy “clung to the driver’s door and continued to punch the accused while he attempted to move the vehicle. He was literally dangling from the jeep as the accused attempted to leave,” Judge Johnson said.

With the driver distracted, the girl escaped. the judge said the boy’s “natural instinct to protect his sister swung into action once he saw the danger she was in. He was extremely brave and showed great presence of mind, maturity beyond his years and leadership.

“They were able to describe the accused, the vehicle he was driving, and also to give details of part of the registration plate. I also note with satisfaction that the Garda investigation into this matter was considerably helped by the co-operation and assistance offered to them by the local community.”

The judge described the incident as “extremely frightening” for the children and said the girl was fortunate that her brother was present.

“All three children are a credit to their family. Their father also deserves great credit for the speed with which he reported the matter to the gardaí,” he said.

After his arrest, Martin did not make admissions , even after being identified by two of the children.

“It was only after the Garda forensic investigation found fibres from [the girl’s] clothes in the jeep, that the accused admitted involvement ,” said the judge.

The family’s victim impact statement outlined how they “were permanently changed as a consequence of the offence”. The statement, written by the children’s father, states a significant portion of the child’s innocence had been stolen. The family now live in the US.

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