A man who attacked two sex workers, leaving one with “potentially life-threatening” wounds, has been jailed for a further four and a half years.
Buti Sashi (27), of Tyrconnell Grove, Inchicore, Dublin 8, appeared before Judge Martin Nolan in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to assault causing harm, two counts of aggravated burglary, robbery, false imprisonment and assault causing serious harm on two separate occasions in 2017.
In the separate incidents, Sashi contacted the victims for sex before arriving at their apartments, attacking them, and then leaving the scene.
He has already been convicted for similar offences and is currently serving a sentence, for which his earliest possible release date had been June 23rd, 2029.
In sentencing, Judge Nolan said “undoubtedly this defendant has a violent propensity”.
He described the incidents as “very serious crimes” and said Sashi's motivation was not clear, but was “probably theft”.
“I hope that he is remorseful and shameful for what he did. I'm going to take that to be the case.”
Judge Nolan sentenced Sashi to four and a half years' imprisonment, which is run consecutively to his current sentence.
“I'm reducing it from about 10 years on the basis of the totality principle,” the judge explained, adding: “If he came here on bail, not serving a sentence, I would have given him 10 years.”
Attack
Detective Garda Carl Colgan told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that Sashi robbed a male sex worker at his flat on May 25th, 2017. Sashi pleaded guilty to charges of assault causing harm, robbery and aggravated burglary in relation to this incident.
On that day, the injured party received a text message from Sashi to book an appointment. Sashi arrived at his apartment, along with another man later that evening.
When the two men arrived, they threatened him before attacking him with a Stanley knife and scissors, during which he suffered injuries to his face and body.
The two attackers then stole the man's mobile phone and €200 in cash.
The injured party made a complaint to gardaí just over a month later. He said it had taken him that length of time because he had been terrified of contacting gardaí due to the nature of his work.
He gave gardaí a description of Sashi and said he had seen him walking around Ranelagh in the past.
Sashi, who was under investigation for separate, similar incidents at the time, fit the physical description provided by the victim.
Data was later extracted from a mobile phone belonging to Sashi, which showed he had been the person to contact this victim on the night of the attack.
Sashi was arrested at his home address and detained. The court was told Sashi denied and minimised his role during interview, and attempted to distance himself from the assault that had been carried out.
'I want money'
Dt Gda Colgan also told the court of a second incident on June 24th, 2017, during which Sashi attacked a female sex worker.
Sashi pleaded guilty to counts of aggravated burglary, assault causing serious harm, and false imprisonment in relation to this incident.
This victim received a call from Sashi to arrange an appointment, and he arrived at her apartment just after midnight.
The woman buzzed him into the apartment complex, and a minute or two later, Sashi knocked on her door. She opened the door and he came inside.
He then grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her into the bedroom, shouting: “I want money.”
The woman shouted for help and tried to escape, but Sashi was blocking the door. He then produced a knife and grabbed her.
Sashi stabbed her seven times on her right-hand side, and dragged her into a bathroom, punching and kicking her, before throwing her into a bathtub.
One of the woman's friends, who had been in the apartment when Sashi arrived, ran to get help, and neighbours came into the flat.
Sashi picked the victim out of the bath and dragged her to the door, keeping his arm around her neck in what was described as a “hostage hold”. He then threw her to the floor and fled the scene.
Wounds
The woman was brought to hospital with what were described in court as “potentially life-threatening” stab wounds to her arm, stomach and thigh. She had also suffered a left eye socket fracture.
A mobile phone which had been dropped at the crime scene was used to identify Sashi as the attacker.
Sashi was arrested and interviewed, during which he denied what had happened. He said he was the victim after the woman had tried to take his wallet and then another man proceeded to attack him.
Victim impact statements from the two injured parties were handed in to the court.
Ciaran O'Loughlin SC, defending, described the incident as a “very serious crime spree”.
He said his client had an alcohol problem, having begun drinking at six-years-old, and this had developed into cannabis, cocaine and tablet use.
Mr O'Loughlin also said his client was once a “very promising athlete” and has been attending an online university while in custody.
Sashi has 19 previous convictions, which the court was told included multiple offences “of a similar nature against similar victims”.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
