Young woman describes being threatened by man with hammer in Kildare

A young woman has described the terrifying ordeal she endured when a man armed with a hammer tried to steal her mobile phone in Castledermot last week.

Sylwia Skawinska, aged 22, who is from New Ross, had arranged with her partner to met a man through a consumer website in the car park of the local community centre at 7pm. The man had agreed to pay €350 for an iPhone 11.

Sylwia was waiting for the potential buyer when suddenly a man wearing a balaclava and brandishing a hammer come running up to her car door and dragged her out of her vehicle.

She said: “He was trying to grab my phone off me and I was screaming and shouting.

“As we were struggling, he was also trying to reach into his pocket for something, possibly a knife.

“My partner suddenly threw his phone at him and he grabbed this and then ran away.”

Sylwia added: “It was a terrifying experience. I want people to know what happened to me so that it will make other women more vigilant in these situations.

“I know I was lucky as something worse could have happened to me. I got bruises but I didn’t get hurt too badly.”

The couple later drove to a nearby service station and called 999. They later made a statement to Castledermot gardaí.

The suspect was approximately six foot tall and wearing all black. Sylwia believes he had blonde/ginger stubble and had a country accent.

Sylwia believes that the man was waiting up to 30 minutes behind a wall so that there was nobody around when he came running at her car. She explained: “There were school children in the area just before he came running at me.”

She also said she thinks somebody was waiting in a getaway car nearby.

She suggested that this man may have tried this before with another victim.

She has reported the incident to the website to investigate.

Gardaí confirmed they are investigating an incident in Castledermot on January 31.

A Garda statement said: “Gardaí are investigating a robbery from a person that took place on the Main Street in Castledermot on January 31 at approximately 7.25pm.

“A mobile was taken by an unidentified male who later fled the scene.

“No arrests have been made at this stage. Investigations are ongoing.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Castledermot Garda Station on 059 914 4112 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.