Assault victim denies working as prostitute in Poland

A Polish woman has denied she was working as a prostitute in her home country when she met a man she claims tried to hang her and make it look like a suicide in their Dublin city centre apartment.

"I swear to God I never worked as a prostitute," Ms Danuta Pisarska said during her cross-examination by defence counsel, Mr Derek Cooney BL, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Ms Pisarska agreed she visited her former partner 61 times while he was in custody following her complaint to gardaí of his alleged serious assault on her and that they lived "as man and wife" after his release and that he photographed her in the nude 17 times.

"We were like husband and wife after he asked me to give him a second chance but we only lived together as man and wife for a few days at that time," she told Mr Cooney, speaking through an interpreter.

Mr Lech Szymczk (aged 49), of North Great Charles Street, has pleaded not guilty to one count of assault causing harm and two counts of endangerment of Ms Pisarska in their flat on August 20, 2006.

Ms Pisarska denied a suggestion by Mr Cooney that she left the apartment the day before the alleged assault with a Russian man and when she was gone Mr Szymczk changed the locks. She said it was only while she was in hospital following the assault that he changed the locks.

She also denied he had previously sent her to see a psychratrist. "It was myself who decided to go there because the relationship made me depressed."

Ms Pisarska who said she was kept tied up for seven hours after the accused fell asleep following the alleged assault, agreed with Mr Cooney that he was taken into custody when she told gardaí she was in fear of him.

She said she visited him in custody after getting telephone calls that he was in a bad state and wanted to see her but that she didn't go there straight away and only after getting several calls.

She told Mr Cooney she met Mr Szymczk in a pub in Poland and agreed they came to Ireland a fortnight later after being together every day of that time.

Earlier, Ms Pisarska told prosecuting counsel, Ms Eilis Brennan BL, that he punched, kicked and head-butted her before he tried to hang her from the stairs using a dressing gown belt after he had drank fifteen beers.

She said he also threw a knife at her head in an incident she claimed that lasted "three or four hours" before he tired. She said he then tied her up with the belt and made her sleep on the inside of the bed so he would hear her if she tried to escape.

Mr Cooney asked her why she had no marks on her after being tied up for seven hours. She insisted she did have bruises on her neck and hands and said "besides the belt was made out of very soft material."

Mr Cooney also asked why she didn't try to call out the window or run to the neighbours for help during the incident. "No one wants to get involved with other peoples problems," she replied. "Especially not Polish people's."

"I was not allowed to scream or cry or he would have put something in my mouth to stop me. If I had run upstairs to the neighbours he would have followed me and beaten me up."

When asked why there were several inconsistencies between her evidence and the statement she gave to Gardai she said she didn't believe her statement was interpreted properly.

"The people who translated the statement from me were not necessarily people with the right qualifications."

She said she didn't correct the Gardai when it was read back to her because she was "really stressed and wanted it to be over."

The trial continues before Judge Tony Hunt and a jury of seven men and five women.