Abduction 'shattered' victim's sense of safety
The man said in his victim impact statement that the four-hour attack, in which he was robbed, beaten, waterboarded and forced to drink urine, had “shattered” his “sense of safety”.
A SETU student has told Waterford Circuit Criminal Court that his abduction and “torture” at the hands of four men “haunts” him a year later.
The man said in his victim impact statement that the four-hour attack, in which he was robbed, beaten, waterboarded and forced to drink urine, had “shattered” his “sense of safety”.
Gardai told the court they pieced together the timeline of events from CCTV footage and videos the group filmed on the victim’s phone and posted to his Snapchat account.
Elroy Kalu (21), of 86 Avondale Park, Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of false imprisonment on October 2, 2023.
At a sitting of the court before Judge Eugene O’Kelly on Tuesday, Mr Kalu pleaded guilty to three counts of robbery, one count of theft and one count of assault causing harm.
Three other men are also charged in relation to the incident.
Garda Detective Liam Harty told the court that on the day of the incident at around 4pm, gardaí were alerted to a video shared on social media.
The video depicted the injured party being taken, assaulted and waterboarded and was posted on the victim’s Snapchat profile.
A friend of the victim screen-recorded the video and reported it to the gardaí.
Gardaí then visited the victim’s home and collected a statement.
They subsequently obtained CCTV footage and videos posted on social media, of a number of places he was taken.
The CCTV showed a group of males, including Mr Kalu, approaching the injured party on the SETU Cork Road campus.
The garda witness told the court that the men threatened the injured party, forcing him to give them his phone and passwords.
In a video played in court, the group can be seen walking down the road, one on a bike telling the victim they were “escorting" him and telling him not to let them catch him.
They take him to a Credit Union in Waterford City and attempted to force him to withdraw money but the victim did not have an account in that Credit Union.
From there, the group take him to the quays in Waterford City, put their victim in a taxi and take him to Tramore.
There, they take the injured party to the Tramore Credit Union and force him to withdraw €250.
They then take the same taxi back to the city.
Back in the city, the group can be seen making an attempt to enter an apartment block but failing that they go to Wyse Park.
In the park, the group beat the victim, urinated on the ground and forced him to drink it before waterboarding him with a garden hose.
The group recorded their attack on the victim’s mobile phone and posted the video to Snapchat.
In the video played in court, the group can be seen hitting him and are heard calling him “disgusting”, ordering him over and over to drink the urine.
Then, the group can be seen using the hose to waterboard the victim.
After the attack, the group forced the man to take off his socks, shoes and earrings, and the group stole those belongings.
The court was told that the group changed the victim's login details and using his digital bank card, they purchased €6.50 worth of food from Amigos.
Acting for the prosecution, Conor O’Doherty, BL, confirmed with the garda witness that Mr Kalu was arrested and charged. The Garda travelled to Blanchardstown, where the defendant was staying, collected him and took him to Waterford Garda Station.
When interviewed, Mr Kalu made no admissions but was cooperative, the court was told.
The injured party was present in court via video link.
Garda Harty read aloud the victim impact statement onto the record.
In his statement the man described his experience as “horrifying and traumatising,” and had “left an incredible mark” on his life.
He said he was “viciously” tortured by people who “showed a lack of empathy” and left him “shattered and demoralised”.
He said their attack was designed to “demean and dehumanise him”. The man said the “four agonising hours” was compounded by the filming and posting of the incident and the comments the group had left on his Snapchat justifying their attack.
The group stole his savings and his belongings and justified their brutality by telling his friends via social media that he stole from them.
He described how the group tortured, waterboarded and stomped on his head and stomach, leaving him “struggling to breathe physically and metaphorically”.
As a result, he said his “sense of safety has been shattered, and his ordeal is something he “will never forget”, “haunting” him to this day.
His studies have been hindered, his reputation damaged and employment opportunities lost.
He wanted to make it clear that he did not have any relationship with those who attacked him and had never stolen from them.
“Their actions have left me profoundly scarred and traumatised. It would be great if they could turn back to a life of God,” said the injured party in his statement.
The barrister, acting for the defendant, told the court that his client regrets his actions and read onto the record, his client’s apology letter.
In his letter, Mr Kalu said he understood that “words could not erase” what he had done to his victim.
He said what he had done “was not just wrong but deeply inhumane”. And that he was sorry for the “horror” he put the man through.
He said he “acknowledged the gravity” of his “wrongdoing” and said his victim had every right to hate him.
He had “failed” to see his victim as human, and he wished he could have seen the man’s welfare as something that mattered.
He knows it will not change what he did, but he said he would work to make sure it did not happen again.
The barrister acting for the defence told the court that his client had shown “some signs of empathy” for the victim and had stopped the others from stripping the defendant.
He had also entered an early guilty plea.
Garda Harty confirmed that he had passed that letter on to the injured party and that the plea had “been of value” to him.
The barrister said his client had been at the time smoking cannabis but was now abstaining from drugs.
Mr Kalu had attempted to get a urine sample before his court appearance this week but was unable to get an appointment.
After being charged, Mr Kalu spent between six and eight weeks in custody, and that had had been of value to his rehabilitation.
In addition to the letter, the barrister said his client had left Waterford and taken up a course in Blanchardstown.
He said Mr Kalu had taken up work in a warehouse and was volunteering with a U12 football team in Blanchardstown.
The secretary of the Mulhuddart FC had provided a written reference for the defendant, in which she said Mr Kalu had disclosed the charges against him and that “given a chance” he could be a good person.
She said, with that in mind, the club was subsidising his coaching qualifications and that she trusted him to work with her son on the U12 team.
The barrister said his client had a “pro-social family unit” and had left Waterford.
He said they did not dispute the seriousness of the charges but asked the judge to “consider how he met the case”. He said his client would benefit from the probation service.
However, Judge O’Kelly said that in this case, “mitigation would not result in a fully suspended sentence”. He remanded the defendant in custody and put the matter back to January 15, 2025, to appear by video link.
He said this was a matter he would have to consider carefully but that he did not expect it to be finalised on January 15.
“It is not a case we can expect an entirely suspended sentence. He is just not going to get that,” said Judge O’Kelly.
The judge acknowledged that the defendant had shown some empathy for the victim and he had pleaded guilty.
But he had participated in what was a “very serious offence”. Judge O’Kelly also questioned why Mr Kalu was only now looking for a urine analysis.
Separately, Mr Kalu was also charged with possession of drugs with the intent to sell or supply and violent disorder in an incident in May 2023.
Mr Kalu was arraigned on these charges at Tuesday’s sitting and pleaded guilty to all counts.
Two other men are also charged in this matter, and probation reports have been ordered for both.
Detective Garda Sean Cuddy of Waterford Garda Station told the court that on May 16, 2023, gardaí were alerted to a group of males fighting on Manor Street, Waterford.
When they arrived on the scene, two men were leaving and declined to engage with gardaí before entering a house.
Later, gardaí on patrol came across three other males, including Mr Kalu, and stopped and searched them.
On Mr Kalu, they found a wheel brace, which the defendant said he was using to help a friend change a tyre.
The three men were arrested on suspicion of affray and taken to Waterford Garda Station.
The court heard that at the station, Mr Kalu admitted his part in the altercation, pointed himself out on CCTV and informed gardaí that he had been stabbed in the shoulder.
The CCTV footage of the fight was shown in court.
Garda Cuddy pointed out that in the footage, another man pulls out a knife and after fighting with the defendant drops it, and a third man picks it up.
The gardaí subsequently obtained a search warrant for Mr Kalu’s student accommodation, where they found 17.5 grams of cocaine.
Garda Cuddy said the defendant's bedroom could only be accessed with his student card, and while Mr Kalu had admitted the drugs were his, he denied it was cocaine.
Garda Cuddy told the court that the defendant has seven previous convictions, all for road traffic offences.
The barrister acting for the accused said his client had entered an early guilty plea on the basis that the DPP would recommend summary disposal.
However, the district court judge refused jurisdiction, and the matter was sent to the Circuit Court.
He pointed out that while his client had joined the “tangle”, he had not started it and had chosen not to make a complaint about the stabbing.
He said his client was working and studying in Blanchardstown and that a probation report commissioned for a separate offence had “various positive parts”. The garda witness said he did not contest this.
Judge O’Kelly put the matter back to January 14, 2025, for mention.
