Gardai are questioning two people over the death of a man in Scotch Quay and are appealing for more information

A YOUNG woman was raped at gunpoint after getting off a bus in a Dublin suburb.

Gardai have launched a manhunt after the victim was bound and gagged during the “appalling” assault.

The woman, in her early 20s from Raheny in Dublin, was brutally sexually assaulted in |the Baldoyle area in the early hours of last Thursday.

The attacker was in a car when he stopped the woman and asked for directions.

He then threatened her at gunpoint before pulling her into the car where she was bound and gagged.

She was then driven to a nearby industrial estate where she was raped.

After her horrific ordeal, she was dumped semi-naked at a location close to a shopping area in Baldoyle at approximately 1am.

Her attacker threw a jacket at her as she lay on the ground.

A major investigation has now been launched into what gardai are describing as an “appalling” assault.

Woman raped at gunpoint after getting off the bus from page 1

It is understood the victim missed her bus stop while travelling home from the city centre.

She got off the bus a few stops later on the Willie Nolan Road in Baldoyle at about 12.15am.

It is understood that the victim said that a car pulled up and the man driving it was looking for directions.

The woman went to help him but he pulled a gun, threatened her and pulled her into his car.

Gardai are working on the theory that she was then driven to an industrial estate in Baldoyle where she was raped.

A member of the public discovered the woman in a “highly distressed state” and alerted gardai.

A number of items of clothing the victim wore on the night are still missing.

ATTACKER

The attacker is not believed to be Irish, but spoke very good English. Detectives are working on the theory that the victim did not know her attacker.

The woman was brought to the Sexual Assault Unit of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital for treatment.

Local Fianna Fail councillor Tom Brabazon told the Herald: “When a crime like this happens, it leaves the whole community in shock. This is an appalling thing to happen to anyone.

“And I think you have to fear whether more crimes like this will happen as the cuts to the Garda force take hold.

“Given that this victim was using public transport, I very much hope that CCTV is useful in the gardai finding the culprits.

“Anyone with any information, please come forward.”

The shocking case is being investigated by gardai based at Howth Garda Station.

But no arrests have been made in the week since the attack.

CRIME

CCTV is being studied and it’s also expected that a major part of the |investigation will be to determine |if the rape is linked to any other sex crime.

In these type of cases, specialist gardai use a system called VICLAS, the Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System, a computer developed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the early 1990s to compare different crimes for similarities.

Sources say that VICLAS is “especially useful” for investigating random sexual assault or rape cases as it uses behavioural analysis, traditional lines of inquiry and geographical profiling.

According to the latest figures there has been a nationwide increase in sexual offences nationwide over the past year. Sexual offences were up by 2pc from 2,014 to 2,059, with 6pc rise in recorded rapes.

Online Editors