A man who tried to murder a French woman outside her Dublin apartment by cutting her throat is expected to meet his victim face-to-face today.
It is the first time "restorative justice" - where a victim is given the chance to speak to their attacker - has been tried at the Central Criminal Court.
The encounter was set up yesterday after Lithuanian Aleksejus Belousovas (29), who was on trial for the attempted murder of Barbara Riouall (24), changed his plea to guilty on day two of the hearing.
However, it will be up to the victim to decide whether to go ahead with the meeting, scheduled for about midday. Belousovas is due to be sentenced at 2pm.
Ms Riouall, who was studying marketing at Dublin Business School, was "extremely lucky to have survived" the knife attack during an attempted robbery at her apartment in the Weavers, Bertram Court, Dublin 8, on May 10th, 2005. She underwent emergency surgery at St James's Hospital.
Belousovas, with a previous address on the North Circular Road in Dublin, stabbed his victim in the shoulder and cut her throat twice before stabbing her a fourth time, leaving a piece of the knife lodged in her neck. The tip of the weapon broke off after coming into contact with one of her vertebrae.
She then pretended to be dead as her attacker dragged her and threw her under the stairs of her apartment building. He went through her pockets and bag before moving off.
Following the guilty plea yesterday, Mr Justice Barry White thanked the jury panel for their important role in hearing the case and told them they could go.
Det Insp Gabriel O'Gara told George Birmingham SC, for the prosecution, Ms Riouall was returning to her apartment at about 7.30pm carrying a Polo Ralph Lauren bag over her shoulder, which contained her student notes, a few groceries and her mobile phone. She was letting herself in the door when she saw a shadow behind her and had a knife held to her throat.
She showed Belousovas the €3 she had and when she showed him her bank card, he seemed to become quite agitated. She shouted and a struggle developed during which he ended up on top of her. She struggled to get control of the knife before he stabbed her in the right shoulder. He then took the knife to her throat and cut her before removing it and repeating the action. He also stabbed her in the neck where the knife penetrated one of her vertebrae, causing the tip to break off.
After the assault, Det Insp O'Gara agreed that Belousovas had held her head and twisted it. Her response was then to play dead.
Very shortly afterwards one of her neighbours, Michael Walsh, came on the scene and heard a gurgling sound from under the stairs. He called the emergency services, who were on the scene within minutes. A team of surgeons then fought to save Ms Riouall's life. Det Insp O'Gara agreed that any one of the several wounds inflicted on her was potentially fatal and she has been left with scars on her neck. The possibility of plastic surgery has been discussed with her and she may need up to three operations.
Inga Mekious told defence counsel Brendan Grehan that she began dating the accused after he came to Ireland in 2001. She said she knew his father had an alcohol problem.
She said she ended their relationship when he became addicted to heroin, which he spent all his money on. She said: "He wasn't interested in anything but heroin." Following the attack on Ms Riouall she got a call from him on May 11th, 2005, and went round to his flat. There she found him drinking whiskey and a rope was hanging from the ceiling. She thought he was going to kill himself. She said she did not know about the incident, and had paid for his airfare back to Lithuania. Apart from two phone calls she had had no contact with him since.
Ms Riouall is expected to give a victim impact statement today.