Natasha Reid
A serial sex attacker has lost his appeal against his 18-and-a-half-year jail term for three premeditated, random attacks on women over a five-year period in south Dublin.
The father-of-two was jailed in 2018 for the violent attacks, which the judge described as primal and brutal. Slawomir Gierlowski (37) had already lost an appeal against his convictions.
One of the attacks was carried out in broad daylight, with Gierlowski putting a hunting knife to his victim’s throat as she made her way to work.
The other two attacks involved a sexual assault and took place late at night as the women walked home after a night out.
The roofer, who is originally from Poland, attacked all three women at locations in the Clondalkin area in 2011, 2015 and 2016.
Gierlowski of Galtymore Drive, Drimnagh in Dublin had pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including false imprisonment, sexual assault, assault and possession of a hunting knife with intent to intimidate.
Suspect van
Following the final attack, witnesses identified a suspect van which gardaí linked to Gierlowski. His DNA was subsequently matched to DNA found under the nails of one of his victims and on semen found on the clothes of another.
Inside his van, gardaí found duct tape and cable ties. Similar items were used on his second victim and were found near to where the third assault occurred.
After a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, a jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all counts.
Judge Pauline Codd labelled him as ‘clearly a dangerous man’. She said that the involvement of a leather belt, a hunting knife, duct tape and cable ties were aggravating factors.
She imposed consecutive sentences of eight years, nine and a half years and five years. She suspended the final four years on condition that he successfully complete sex offender programmes in custody. Following his release he will be subject to a nine-year supervision period and will have to obey a curfew.
He appealed against his conviction to the Court of Appeal last year, but lost that appeal in January.
His barrister, Desmond Dockery SC, returned to the court last month to appeal against his sentence.
Mr Dockery first acknowledged that his client did not accept his guilt. His not guilty plea and trial always meant that any sentence would be severe, he noted.
Headline sentence
However, he said that the headline sentence imposed for the false imprisonment in the third attack was unduly severe, ‘so the overall sentence was somewhat excessive’. He explained that this was a headline sentence of 11 years, which was eventually reduced to eight years after mitigation and other legal factors were considered.
However, Counsel said that this offence was ancillary to the very serious assault he carried out with a knife on that occasion, but was double the sentence handed down for that crime.
“She wasn’t entitled to do that,” he said of the judge.
“She had to start with a headline sentence for false imprisonment, which bore some proportionality to the sentence available to her for assault,” he said.
He noted that the available sentence for assault was not as high as that available for false imprisonment, but said that should have been considered before deciding which charges he should face.
“She seems to have treated this offence as the main offence and in my submission it was not,” he said.
Precedent
Roisin Lacey SC responded on behalf of the DPP. She said that this was the first case of a serial attacker to come before the circuit court here and perhaps before any Irish court.
However, she said there was a precedent for giving a larger sentence to the false imprisonment aspect of an attack than to the actual assault. She drew the court’s attention to the case where the precedent was set.
Justice Patrick McCarthy, who sat with Court President Justice George Birmingham and Justice Aileen Donnelly, dismissed the appeal today (Tuesday).
He added that the court may vary the terms of suspension, but would not interfere with the sentence length. He said that reasons would be given in a full judgment at a later date.
Gierlowski is to be sentenced for other crimes by separate courts in the coming months.
