Women posing as prostitutes lure men into side street muggings

Date Published: 19-May-2011

By Dara Bradley

Gangs of women are purporting to be ‘ladies of the night’ for hire and luring men down alleyways in Galway City under the pretext of offering sex for payment – the women then steal the ‘clients’ cash or wallets.

The men, who think they are hiring prostitutes, may also be assaulted down the city’s side streets by these women, the Galway City Joint Policing Committee heard this week.

City Councillor Frank Fahy (FG), a taxi driver by trade, said this phenomenon of men being assaulted and cash stolen from them after they are lured down side streets under false pretences is happening on a regular basis at night.

Cllr Fahy said the women were from Romania and their crimes of assault and theft are probably underreported. They “ply for hire” as prostitutes at corners of the city’s main streets – High Street, Shop Street and Cross Street – and then lure the men down side streets and alleyways, he said.

“When they are down the side streets the men are either assaulted or robbed,” he said.

Chief Superintendent Donal Ó Cualáin, told the meeting that these types of cases have been reported to Galway Gardaí.

He said most of the women who have been caught and processed through the courts here, are over 18 although they may look younger.

Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune