Algerian man says he was misled by lawyers when he pleaded guilty to attempted murder

Algerian man says he was misled by lawyers when he pleaded guilty to attempted murder

An Algerian man who pleaded guilty to attempting to murder his wife by beating her with a kettlebell after becoming resentful of her independence has claimed that he was misled by his legal team and that gardai fabricated evidence at his sentence hearing.

At the Court of Appeal on Friday, Lounes Ouachek, 50, of St Dominic’s Terrace, Tallaght, Dublin 24 asked for permission to bring an appeal against conviction in circumstances where the statutory period to lodge an appeal has passed. The court refused his application having heard arguments from Cathleen Nocter SC for the Director of Public Prosecutions that Ouachek had not engaged with the facts of the case and that there was “no basis identified upon which the court might engage in considering extending the time.”

Mr Ouachek pleaded guilty in 2014 to the attempted murder of Ruta Ouachek at his home address on August 23, 2012. He had struck his wife repeatedly on the head with a kettlebell and left her bleeding and seriously injured with fractures to her skull and facial bones. After trying to murder her he pulled the blinds, locked the door and took a flight from Dublin Airport to Tunisia via Paris without alerting anyone to his wife’s condition. He was subsequently arrested in Germany on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.

Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Mr Ouachek to 15 years’ imprisonment with the final three suspended on July 21 2014. The Court of Appeal, following hearings in 2015, reduced the sentence by one year.

Representing himself and sometimes using a translator, Mr Ouachek said he had submitted papers to the court that showed that the evidence against him was “all fabricated”.

He said that when he pleaded guilty he didn’t understand English and had no interpreter in court. He said his legal team misled him and, referring to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, he said: “You have to start anew or release me as soon as possible.” He said he is “suffering every day” as all of the prisoners on his landing have tested positive for coronavirus and he asked to be released so he could find a “good barrister” to take up his case.

He said there was evidence of perjury by An Garda Síochána and his wife and suggested that forged papers were used to show that he had separated from his wife. He further insisted that he had never received a barring order that was presented as evidence and said that he never split with his wife.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham, sitting with Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, said there was no basis to extend the time and refused to hear the appeal.

Eoin ReynoldsIreland International News Agency Ltd.

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