Woman ‘attacked by stranger’ who ‘held her down and bit her face while she was on the phone with her husband’ – World News

A terrified woman was brutally attacked by a stranger who held her down and bit her on the face while her husband listened to the entire incident on the phone, a court heard.

Seif Waleed Al Hindawi has been charged with assaulting the woman who suffered facial injuries near her home in Churchtown, south Dublin, on Wednesday evening. The 22-year-old asylum seeker, believed to be of Syrian origin, was held for two days for questioning.

He was charged on Friday evening and remanded in custody until the next sitting of Dublin District Court. Judge Monika Leech then refused him bail. Garda Michelle Maunsell told Judge Leech that Hindawi’s response to the charge was: “I did not attack her.”

The judge said the accused and the victim did not know each other. Garda Stephen Morley refused bail due to the seriousness of the incident and fears of a flight risk. He said further charges could be expected once the Attorney General gives instructions, the Irish Mirror reported.

Mr Hindawi was granted legal aid and remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on May 31. Outlining the allegations, Garda Morley said the woman alleged a man attacked her after she got off a Luas tram at Windy Arbour at around 11.20pm on Wednesday.

She told police she “felt someone was following her”. She allegedly continued on to her residential area and contacted her husband “because she felt uncomfortable about the situation”. The court heard: “She looked back and saw that she was clearly being followed by an unknown man.”

It was claimed that “he ran towards her and pushed her to the ground”. The court heard that she landed on her back and screamed while the man “held her down and tried to bite her face”. The court was told: “She says the man was screaming in a foreign language and she tried to defend herself by hitting him while she was still on the phone with her husband who heard the attack on the phone.”

Police told the court that the woman tried to kick the man to push him away and he ran away. At the controversial bail hearing, it was said that the victim’s husband heard her screaming in despair during the call – and ran home. She dialled 999 and immediately got into her car with her husband, while allegedly keeping an eye on the man.

At St Vincent’s Hospital, the woman was found to have suffered a cut to her lip and was treated with a tetanus shot and antibiotics. The court heard she had bruising and swelling, as well as a cut to the inside of her lip which required stitches. The victim was left terrified after the attack, the court was told.

It was alleged that the plaintiff reported the defendant to the police and that the defendant had blood coming from his mouth and lips and bloodstains on his clothes. The officers provided him with a translator and searched the area for CCTV footage.

Garda Morley told the court the man was unemployed and had no state or family ties in Ireland. He acknowledged that the accused had no previous convictions, warrants or other charges against him. The officer believed “this was a deliberate attack on a vulnerable woman walking home alone late at night in a poorly lit area.”

He added that it was unprovoked and she was being stalked and attacked in a “predatory” and “opportunistic” manner. The man did not speak in court and listened to the proceedings through an interpreter. Garda Morley said the accused is believed to be a Syrian asylum seeker. The court heard that he did not give an address and was carrying no valid identification other than a card with his date of birth that was given to him.

In further discussions between the witness and the defence, the Garda said it was believed the man had arrived in Ireland in March “with his brother by ship in a container” and had been in Dundrum for the past few weeks. He did not have a passport. Mr Casey said his client had told him he was homeless but had been offered accommodation in a former hostel in Dundrum with his brother. The Garda accepted that the defendant had mentioned this in his interview.

He said the defendant had an International Protection Application Card obtained from the Irish authorities, with details he had provided to them. Arguing for bail, defence counsel said the defendant would comply with strict conditions on release, including reporting to a police station daily, being contactable by telephone and staying away from the scene of the alleged assault. However, the defence accepted that he would have to find an alternative place of residence after the judge pointed out that Mr Hindawi planned to live “a stone’s throw away” from the crime scene. Judge Leech refused bail on the grounds that the defendant posed a flight risk.