A father-of-six who sexually assaulted four women during “a spree of some sort” has been jailed for three years.
Macica Firea (58) was later discovered urinating at a Luas stop after he “flashed” two security guards who refused him entry to the tram.
Firea, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to the sexual assault of three women on Amiens Street, Dublin , and the further sexual assault of another woman on Commons Street, Dublin 1, on July 10th, last.
Passing sentence on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said the assaults amounted to a gross invasion of the "privacy and bodily integrity" of the victims. He said that no reason for the accused's behaviour has been advanced other then that he did it.
Judge Nolan said the court could have no confidence that something similar would not happen in the future. He sentenced Firea to three years imprisonment.
At an earlier sentencing hearing, Garda Aisling Gralton told Monika Leech BL, prosecuting, that on the morning in question a woman was on her way to work and walking near Connolly Station when the accused came up to her and grabbed her vagina.
Gda Gralton said the accused did not say anything and she pushed him away. The woman saw Firea grab the vaginas of two further women and recorded a video of what she was witnessing.
Gda Gralton said that on the same morning, a second woman was walking down Commons Street when she felt a hand come from behind her. She turned around and said something along the lines of “f**k off”.
Firea laughed and made a gesture with his fingers indicating digital penetration. He then grabbed the woman’s buttocks.
A third woman was standing at a bus stop near Connolly Station that morning when the accused grabbed her vagina. She pushed his hand off her and he moved away quite slowly.
A fourth woman was going down the escalator of Connolly Station that morning and that once she disembarked the accused reached out and attempted to put his hand under her skirt, which she hit away. A homeless man came to her aid and shouted at the accused.
Previous convictions
A description of Firea was circulated and a garda later saw the man urinating on the steps of Museum Luas station. Two Luas security guards informed gardaí that when they refused the accused access to a tram, he “flashed” them by producing his genitals.
In interview with gardaí, Firea claimed he had bumped into people accidentally and on one occasion he was asking someone for directions. He said that he had arrived in Ireland that day.
Firea has 14 previous convictions in foreign jurisdictions. These include convictions for theft in Hanover, sexual abuse in Barcelona, pimping in Toro and other convictions in Madrid, Zaragoza and Bucharest.
Gda Gralton agreed with Carol Doherty BL, defending, that all the assaults occurred in "a spree of some sort" over a number of hours. She agreed that he claimed he had been furnished with intoxicants and had been drinking prior to the offences.
Ms Doherty said her client was "a nomadic individual" who was the father of six children and his wife was deceased. She submitted that the offences fell at the lower end of the spectrum for offences of this kind.
She said her client wished to leave Ireland once he had served his sentence.