Addict drank tea with knife-terror victim, court hears

A Wicklow cocaine addict who drank tea with a Chinese woman after terrorising her at knifepoint in her apartment will be sentenced later byJudge Tony Hunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

John Cash (aged 31), of Hazlewood, Bray hugged the woman when he left her apartment two hours later and told gardai he established "a bond" with the married woman he had held captive when he attempted to rob her.

"She sat there drinking tea with me. She didn't ask to leave. She's a very nice girl."

Detective Garda Aidan Carrol said Cash apologised profusely through the gardai to his victim for his drug-crazed actions and wasn't able to take the computer and video she offered him once he bonded with her.

"As I got to know her, I couldn't take them off her."

Det. Gda Carroll told prosecuting counsel, Ms Kathleen Noctor BL, that the woman was initially terrified when Cash entered her bedroom with two knives demanding money but she later noticed his hands were shaking and that he seemed to be in pain.

Her terror subsided while they drank tea and talked during the experience on February 15, 2006 which began after her husband left the front door open when he went to work around 7am.

Cash had been “shooting up” with a drugs cocktail at the apartment block and came in looking for money to buy more drugs. The woman saw a figure at her bedroom door and called out a name, thinking it was the apartment's other occupant.

Det. Gda Carroll said she heard the figure reply “yes” and shut the door only to open it again and run towards her with what she described as a “sleek” knife. She sat up in bed and saw Cash threatening her with two knives demanding her wallet.

She explained to him that her wallet had been stolen the day before but told him to take her bag where he found €10 and loose coins and some Chinese currency in various denominations.

Det. Gda Carroll said she noticed as he held one of the knives to her that his hands were shaking and he seemed angry. She began to cry but Cash assured her he wouldn't harm her.

Cash pocketed a silver ring with fake diamonds and ordered herto put clothes on because he wanted to search the other bedroom for money.

Det. Gda Carroll said Cash found a gold necklace and ring with fake diamonds in the other bedroom and continued on into the sitting room where he told her to make tea.

She noticed as they were going into the sitting room that Cash had difficulty picking up one of the knives he dropped on the floor. Cash looked at the photos of her family and spoke to her about his background as they sat drinking tea.

Det. Gda Carroll said that when Cash stood up and walked to the bathroom after drinking the tea, the woman noticed he was limping.

Cash shaved and washed in the bathroom and then changed into her husband's clothes, leaving his own on the floor. He then hugged her when he left the apartment two hours later and claimed to gardaí in his subsequent arrest that he felt a bond with her.

Det. Gda Carroll told Ms Noctor that Cash was arrested following his release two days later from Loughlinstown Hospital where he was admitted for drugs overdose. He claimed he found the knives he used to threated the woman in the apartment kitchen.

Det. Gda Carroll said the father-of-two told gardai he was desperate for more drugs and didn't think there was anyone in the apartment when he entered saying that otherwise he would have “legged it.”

He said he kept her captive and cut the phone line because he didn't want her raising the alarm before he got down to the foreign exchange to convert the Chinese currency into euro.