Man pleads guilty to random attacks on women in Athlone

A 52-year-old Cork resident has pleaded guilty to a series of daytime attacks on women in Athlone earlier this year.

Tim Dennehy, with an address of Glanmore, Ballyhea, Charleville, Cork, appeared at a recent sitting of Longford District Court charged with six counts of assault, five of which involved female victims, in Athlone over the course of a few hours on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

The defendant has been in custody since April following his arrest at Athlone Train Station at 1pm on the date of the assault offences. The court heard that he had underwent a psychiatric assessment which found that he was fit to enter a plea to all six charges before the court.

Five of the charges, four of which were perpetrated on women Dennehy approached at random in Athlone on the day in question, had been directed for "summary disposal" which allows them to be finalised at district court level.

The first of those, the court previously heard, took place just after 11am when Gardai were called to the Golden Island Shopping Centre with reports of two females having been assaulted a few minutes earlier.

The court was told Dennehy had "barged into" both women as they were engaged in conversation on a footpath just outside the shopping centre.

It was revealed how during that incident, a 38-year-old woman was punched in the eye, leaving her with bruising and swelling to her jaw.

The court heard how the woman, despite avoiding any lasting injuries, underwent medical attention and continued to suffer from anxiety in the wake of the attack.

Mr Dennehy was then seen Wildhunter, an outdoor hunting supplies store, a few moments later, where he proceeded to ask a shop assistant for a "gun and a bullet" - a request which was quickly turned down.

As the defendant left the store, he "shouldered" a man who had been walking into the store at the time.

Garda Breda Fahy said that, while Gardai were searching for the defendant, they were alerted to another incident involving a woman who had been walking along the town's Abbey Road area to collect her grandchild from a nearby creche.

The court heard how the woman had been attacked by an "unknown male" who punched her into the eye, "causing multiple fractures to her facial bones", and that this had left her requiring reconstructive surgery in November.

A short time later, Gardaí received a report of a further attack on a young woman whom he kicked as she was walking on Northgate Street in the town.

Defence solicitor Mark Cooney told the court his client would be entering guilty pleas "on all matters", adding that Dennehy would be going forward to the circuit court on a signed plea in relation to the most serious of the assaults, which was refused jurisdiction in the District Court.

Judge Michael Connellan approved a request for a junior and senior counsel to represent Dennehy for his anticipated sentencing hearing at a sitting of Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court on November 25.

Before then Mr Dennehy, who was remanded in continuing custody, is due to appear at a sitting of Athlone District Court on September 10 for sentencing in relation to the five other assault charges and where impact statements from his victims are expected to be heard.