Man pleads guilty of rape and attempted murder

A Wicklow man has pleaded guilty to the kidnap, rape, robbery and attempted murder of a woman at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.

36-year-old Laurence Murphy, of Woodfield in Baltinglass will be sentenced on May 11 next.

He admitted four charges of raping the woman and one of attempted murder on February 11 2000.

He also pleaded guilty to falsely detaining the woman, assaulting her, causing harm and robbing her of IR£700 on the same date.

Mr Justice Paul Kearney remanded him in custody for sentence on May 11 and directed the preparation of a victim impact report.

Evidence of the crimes will be given at the sentence hearing.

Murphy collapsed in court when his arraignment began and after he pleaded guilty to the first four charges.

He pleaded guilty to the remaining charges when the hearing resumed some hours later.