Jail for man who was captured on CCTV headbutting and punching his girlfriend
A man who was captured on CCTV footage headbutting and punching his teenage ex-girlfriend after dragging her from a nightclub has been jailed for two years and three months, reports Sonya McLean.
Ionel Rostas (20) of no fixed abode came forward on signed pleas of guilty from the District Court.
He affirmed those pleas at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that he assaulted the then 18-year-old woman, causing her harm, at the Red Cow Inn on April 21, 2025.
Detective Garda Shane Whelan confirmed that the victim did not wish to make a statement to the gardaí and the prosecution has arisen based on gardaí viewing CCTV footage of the incident.
He said gardaí were made aware that an assault had taken place. The victim got a taxi from the hotel to a hospital where she later discharged herself after she received plastic stitches above her right eyebrow.
Det Gda Whelan described what he viewed on CCTV footage. He said he identified Rostas from the footage and later arrested him but he made no comment during the subsequent interview.
He said the victim had been in a relationship with Rostas. He had tried to get into the nightclub but was refused entry and CCTV footage shows him entering the rear door of the nightclub and, two minutes later, bringing the victim out of the club.
Det Gda Whelan said the victim appeared upset and seemed to be trying to get away from Rostas. The footage shows him holding the victim in a headlock and punching her in the head and face seven or eight times.
The victim is knocked to ground and Rostas pulls her back up and hits her again. Det Gda Whelan said about three minutes pass before Rostas headbutts the teenager again, before he punches her and walks away while she is lying on the ground.
Det Gda Whelan said he met with the victim on June 1, 2025 but she declined to make a statement.
Rostas has 30 convictions all from the District or Children’s Court and include assault causing harm, criminal damage, theft, drug dealing, dangerous driving and road traffic offences.
Rostas was interviewed the following month. He was on a four month suspended sentence for a drug offence when he carried out the assault.
Det Gda Whelan agreed with Keith Spencer BL, defending, that Rostas indicated he was accepting responsibility for the assault despite the fact that there was no witness statement.
He told Judge Orla Crowe that Rostas was effectively abandoned by his family when he was 14 years old and rendered homeless.
Judge Crowe had previously adjourned the case for sentence and ordered a report from the Probation Service.
Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Crowe said that deplorable violence was meted out by Rostas on a “very very young” woman, leaving her face bloodied and needing stitches. She said the victim was a vulnerable woman who offered no resistance when she was being subjected to this brutal beating.
She imposed a sentence of two years and nine months but suspended the final six months on condition that he keep the peace and be of good behaviour. She also set a condition that he engage with the Probation Service in relation to various programmes including anger management.
We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .
Close GDPR Cookie Settings
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
