Five Romanian men who admitting falsely imprisoning and assaulting the former wife of one of them received suspended sentences in Dundalk District Court yesterday.
The court heard that Ms Argentina Lacatus was dragged by her hair out of her home at Barrack Street, Dundalk, just after midnight on October 10th. The men forced her to lie down on the floor of a car and a hand was put over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
In her evidence the woman claimed her husband had asked her to remarry him and she had refused. When they married in 1992, she had had problems with his family.
When her husband and three of the accused entered, he took her 18-month daughter from her.
Supt Michael Staunton said the woman was roughly treated by the men and there was an attempt to bite her nose.
The car took off at speed but a description of it was given to gardai and it was stopped in Drogheda. As soon as the car was stopped, the infant was handed back to her mother and she escaped from the car.
Garda Seamus Nolan, Drogheda, said he was on patrol and at 1.05 a.m. he saw the car drive into Drogheda at speed. It had travelled at up to 85 m.p.h. on the North Road into Drogheda and at a junction to a housing estate it overtook two vehicles before swerving back into its own lane.
It was eventually stopped on the Bridge of Peace, Drogheda, after Garda cars arrived and the men were arrested.
The men's defence solicitor, Mr Roger McGinley, said what happened that night had a great deal to do with the cultural history of those involved. They were all Roma gypsies.
He told Judge Flann Brennan there were a million or so of these people scattered through Romania, the Czech and Slovak republics and Poland. The authorities normally left them to their own devices in relation to their social customs.
It was against this background that the woman's husband, Anton Cirpaci (28), had set out to resolve a domestic situation in a way which would not have surprised the Romanians themselves. Cirpaci arrived in the State only three weeks ago.
Judge Brennan said he saw Cirpaci as the ring leader. He sentenced him to nine months for false imprisonment and six months for assault. Both were suspended on him entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years.
The car's driver, Pitu Tinichigiu (27), of Priory Way, Celbridge, Co Kildare, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and was sentenced to five days in jail, disqualified from driving for 12 months and had his licence endorsed. The sentence was backdated to the night the men were arrested.
For the false imprisonment he was given a six-month sentence, suspended on him entering into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years.
Liri Tinichigiu (23) and Nemit Tinichigiu (17), also of Priory Way, were also given six-month suspended sentences for both false imprisonment and assault on entering into bonds to keep the peace. Bradut Losca(18), who had the assault charge dismissed and received three months' detention, suspended, was also bound to keep the peace.
All five were told that a condition of their sentences was that they do not communicate with and stay away from the woman.