Man jailed for pouring boiling water on woman over missing drugs

A man has been jailed for several years for a “very serious” assault which included pouring boiling water over a woman’s hands and arms, while seeking €7,000 in payment over missing drugs.

Paul Clarke (29) of Clonard Road, Dublin 12, was jailed for four years and three months for an assault on a woman and her partner over two days in late 2021.

The two victims were Lyndsey Byrne and Emmet Black, who had been living together in the Maltings apartments, Watling Street, Dublin 8.

A sentencing hearing in the Criminal Courts of Justice (CCJ) heard Mr Black had allegedly been holding drugs in the apartment for Mr Clarke, which he came to collect on November 11th, 2021, with another man, Josh Conlon (19), of Meath Place, Dublin 8.

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“People think ‘there are hostages – it is what it is’. But there are families who cannot carry on with their lives”

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After arriving Mr Clarke said: “Where is the f**king product, we want it now or the money. People are going to start getting hurt”.

Mr Black was told he would have to pay €7,000 and was instructed to go to the credit union for a loan, the court heard.

When he left Mr Clarke ordered Ms Byrne to put her hands on the table, and he began hitting her with a stick.

Giving evidence, Garda Kerrie Sullivan said Ms Byrne described Mr Clarke as the “main man” during the attack, who kept asking “where is the weed?”

He instructed Mr Conlon to boil a kettle of water and find sugar to mix into the boiling water, but he was unable to find any.

Ms Byrne was told to keep her hands on the table as Mr Clarke poured four cups of boiling water over them, the court heard. He then tied her wrists together and continued to hit her with a stick and ask where the drugs were.

Mr Black returned to the apartment after failing to get money from the credit union, at which point Mr Conlon hit him with the leg of a chair.

The court heard Mr Black had a young child who was at school during the incident. Garda Sullivan said Ms Byrne had been told to “pack a bag” as they threatened to take the child away overnight, but that this did not happen.

Mr Clarke stated he would be back the next day for the money, the court heard.

The following day at around 1pm Ms Byrne phoned emergency services and provided some details of the previous assaults.

Mr Clarke returned on November 12th, with another man, Craig Kelly (38), Dowland Road, Dublin 12, who during the second incident struck Ms Byrne with a stick across the chest twice.

At another point Mr Clarke threw a kettle of boiling water over Ms Byrne, scalding her arms, before threatening he would “skin” her alive.

Ms Byrne said when she later stumbled out of her apartment she found two guards who were responding to the earlier 999 call, who took her to hospital for treatment for second degree burns.

Mr Black was also treated for injuries that included a 7cm cut on his head, which he told gardaí he sustained after falling off his bicycle.

In a victim impact statement Ms Byrne said the ordeal “changed her life forever” and she believed she was going to die from the pain.

Garda Sullivan told the court Mr Clarke had 73 previous convictions, Mr Kelly had 109 previous convictions and Mr Conlon had none.

Paul Carroll BL for Mr Clarke, asked the judge to recognise his client had entered a guilty plea, which avoided a “long messy trial”. He said while in custody he had started to address issues surrounding his offences.

Judge Martin Nolan said he gave Mr Clarke “some credit ... but not too much” for his guilty plea, noting his actions were at the most serious end of the scale for assaults.

The judge imposed a sentence of four years and three months, backdated to include time spent in prison since his arrest.

Keith Spencer BL said his client Mr Kelly had pled guilty to assault and that CCTV showed he was only in the property on the second day for a period of around 15 minutes. The judge imposed a sentence of five months in his case, also counting time already spent in custody.

Gerry Charlton BL, representing Mr Conlon, said his client had “cut all ties” with the other defendants and had “broke rank” to enter an early guilty plea to assault. He added he had also made certain admissions and expressed remorse during an interview with gardaí. The judge said he would issue a sentence in the case of Mr Conlon on Wednesday.