Woman was offered money and drugs to stab pal before court
Irish Independent
Conor Gallagher – Published 28 May 2014 08:25 AM
Rose Maughan (32) of Mount Brown, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of a knife at the courts building on Park Gate Street on January 13, 2011. Pic: Collins Courts.
A WOMAN has avoided jail after admitting to stabbing her friend in the Criminal Courts of Justice so he wouldn’t have to appear in court where he was expecting a jail sentence.
The man asked Rose Maughan (32) to stab him before he was due to go before a judge that day. He later claimed to gardaí that he was attacked by three men near the courts.
However CCTV footage clearly showed Maughan stabbing him in the smoking area of the courts with a plastic knife taken from the court’s canteen.
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Maughan’s defence counsel said she is “easily led” and was promised money and drugs in return for stabbing the man.
Yesterday, she was given a 12 month sentence by Judge Mary Ellen Ring which was suspended on condition she engages with the Probation Service.
Maughan of Mount Brown, Dublin 8 pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of a knife at the courts building on Park Gate Street on January 13, 2011.
Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, told the court that Maughan’s friend was before the courts that morning and had asked his girlfriend to stab him in the leg so could avoid appearing in court.
However the girlfriend was unable to break the skin with the knife and they asked Maughan to try. She succeeded in stabbing the man and he was taken to the Mater Hospital.
The man later made a complaint to gardaí that he had been attacked by three men on Park Gate Street.
When gardaí viewed CCTV footage they saw Maughan stabbing the supposed victim as he made no effort to stop her. Afterwards she could be seen trying to stop the bleeding with her coat.
The man was later prosecuted for making a false complaint and also received a prison sentence for the original matter he was in court for.
Defence counsel Leo Mulrooney BL said his client was pestered into stabbing the man. He said the Probation Service view her as a woman who is keen to please others and that was her motivation on this occasion.
He said she is one of 22 children from Mayo but was shunned by her family after moving to Dublin. She was homeless for a period and using heroin but is now trying to address these issues, counsel said.
