Michael Martin claims to have been attacked in jail for attempt to abduct young Laois girl

A convicted sex offender who tried to abduct a girl in Co. Laois claims he has been assaulted in prison for what he did.

Michael Martin of Shandon Court, Yellow Road in Waterford City was jailed for 13 years today in what the judge described as an "attack on family life".

"Disturbing" was the word used by Judge Keenan Johnson to describe what Michael Martin did near Cullahill village in Laois on March 4 last.

The court heard he snatched an 11-year-old girl and bundled her into his jeep in front of her younger twin brothers, one of whom held onto the driver’s door, in a brave move that allowed his sister to escape.

Despite the terrifying ordeal, the boy even had the presence of mind to check the jeep’s registration number as it drove away from the quiet country road.

Michael Martin has 92 previous convictions, including one for sexually assaulting a young girl in 1999 and one for false imprisonment.

He was sentenced to 17 years today with the final four years suspended.

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