Man to be sentenced for warning woman to drop assault charges or she would be murdered

By Jessica Magee

A woman who had boiling water thrown over her during a two-day assault was warned to drop charges or she would be murdered, a court has heard.

Lyndsey Byrne was scalded, beaten and tied up and her partner Emmet Black was assaulted by a number of men who came looking for drugs to their apartment at The Maltings, Watling St, Dublin 8, over the course of November 11 and 12, 2021.

A week later, a different man who had not been involved in the attack, Eamon Savage (36), told Ms Byrne to lie to the judge and say she had thrown boiling water over herself.

Earlier this year, Paul Clarke (29) of Clonard Rd, Dublin 12 was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four years and three months in prison for his role in the attack.

Clarke was described in court as the “main man” in the assault; he had thrown a kettle of boiling water over Ms Byrne causing second-degree burns and had threatened to “skin her alive,” the court heard.

Co-accused Craig Kelly (38) of Dowland Rd, Walkinstown, was sentenced to five months in prison for his role in one of the attacks; while a third man, Josh Conlon (19) of Meath Place, Thomas Street, received a suspended sentence.

The court heard previously that the men called to the apartment looking for a box of cannabis that Mr Black was supposed to be holding, and when the drugs were not found they ordered the couple to come up with the sum of €7,000.

At a hearing yesterday, the court heard that Ms Byrne was threatened in public by Eamon Savage, a week after the attack.

Savage (36) of Emmet Road, Inchicore, pleaded guilty to witness intimidation of Lyndsey Byrne at Merchants Quay, Dublin 8 on November 18, 2021.

The court heard that Savage was part of a group who walked past Ms Byrne and that another man in the group said to her: “You have Fat Crack locked up,” Fat Crack being a nickname for Paul Clarke.

Savage told Ms Byrne that he had a message from one of Clarke’s associates who was looking for her everywhere and had been on the quays two or three times a day to try and find her.

“Everyone knows you have Fat Crack locked up,” Savage told Ms Byrne, adding that she was to drop the charges and say that she had lied.

Ms Byrne later reported to gardaí that Savage told her to tell the judge she was “off my head on drugs when it happened” and also to say that she had poured boiling water over herself.

Savage told Ms Byrne, “there’s 20K in it” for her if she made a statement to that effect, but that if she didn’t, she would be murdered.

Detective Garda Richard Pender told Garret Baker SC, prosecuting, that Savage was later arrested after he was identified on CCTV.

In a victim impact statement previously submitted to the court, Ms Byrne said: “Eamon tried to get me to change my statement. Initially this worked, as I felt Paul Clarke could get to me, even while he was in prison.” Ms Byrne said that with the support of gardaí, she was able to tell the truth of what was done to her.

Savage has 100 previous convictions including possession of knives, drugs, theft, production of articles, public order and failing to appear.

Det Pender agreed with Michael Hourigan BL, defending, that Savage was someone who was “limited in his ability to say ‘no’ to certain individuals”.

Mr Hourigan said his client was in no way involved in the original assault on Ms Byrne and her partner, but was directed by other people to make the threat.

“He was acting at the behest of others,” counsel said of Savage, adding that the accused felt bad for the injured party as he knew her when he was younger.

The court heard that Savage was homeless and had a drug addiction but is now trying to reduce his methadone intake.

Savage suffered neglect in his childhood and witnessed domestic violence in the home from a very early age, the court heard, and was taken into care from the age of five to 16.

He started taking drugs at the age of 12 or 13.

The court heard that Savage has been in custody on another matter since November 2021.

Judge Orla Crowe adjourned the matter for sentence next week to June 14.