Boy, 13, carried out violent sex attack on woman in Cork City 

Victim was so badly beaten that she was unable to unlock her phone to ring for help because the facial recognition software did not recognise her

A victim impact statement is to be prepared. Picture: Larry Cummins

WARNING: Some readers may find this article upsetting

A 13-year-old boy who carried out a violent attack on a young woman in Cork City has been found guilty by a jury of also assaulting her sexually.

The victim was so badly beaten that on the night of the attack that she was at first unable to unlock her phone to ring her parents because the facial recognition software on her device did not recognise her.

He had repeatedly kicked her face and dragged her along the ground by her hair when she lay face down on the footpath.

A woman driving by saw that the young woman’s long dress was above her waist and that her underwear was down.

The teenager pleaded guilty to assault causing harm but denied sexual assault.

However, at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, a jury of three women and nine men unanimously found him guilty of the sexual assault as well.

Paula McCarthy, barrister, said the State was applying to have the teenager — now aged 15 — remanded in custody for sentencing in four weeks’ time.

Siobhán Lankford, defence senior counsel, said the teenager was not in any trouble before or after this incident.

Judge Catherine Staines remanded the youth on bail.

A victim impact statement is to be prepared by the woman in her early 20s. She was a college student at the time she was walking home — a route with which she was very familiar — at around 11pm following a night out with friends.

A probation report is also to be prepared on the teenager.

The victim testified during the trial: “I tried to ring my parents but I have facial identification on my phone and the phone wouldn’t open up because I looked so horrendous and when I saw my face on the camera phone later, I just freaked out.”

The attack happened on Evergreen Street in Cork on January 29, 2022.

The injured party thought she heard somebody following her and was suddenly knocked to the ground.

“The next thing I remember is being kicked in the face. My face was on the road. I had earrings on, and I could feel them sticking into me.

I kind of shut down but my last thought was I’m going to die."

A witness who was driving up Evergreen Street to go on to Douglas Street saw the injured party’s dress raised and underwear down.

“I asked the fellow what was happening, and he said, ‘It’s okay, I have her’. I asked her did she know him, and she said ‘No,’ and then she said, ‘Help me’ – she was sobbing uncontrollably, and she said he was following her.

“The gentleman said that ‘Three fellows had kicked the shite out of her and that he had just come upon her’, and then he dropped her down on her bum and he said he was going to go after the three fellows who kicked the shite out of her, and he ran off.”

The witness placed the girl in her car and she started wiping the blood off her face which was swelling up badly. She then rang the girl’s mother.

The 15-year-old will be sentenced on May 19 for assault causing harm — to which he pleaded guilty — and the sexual assault.