Donation page set up for woman who was brutally tortured in Dublin flat by gang

Sunday World

2 days ago

Five men were jailed last week for a combined 55-and-a-half years for the 'evil and truly barbaric' attack
Sean Conroy (21), Mark McMahon (55), Mark Keogh (33), Kian Walshe (22) and Braxton Rice (20) all admitted to falsely imprisoning the woman at Henrietta House
A donation page has been set up for Natalie Ennis who was brutally tortured in a flat in Dublin's north inner city.
Ms Ennis, who was abducted after a batch of drugs which she knew nothing about went missing, was only rescued when gardaí raided the flat as part of a separate investigation.
Five men were jailed last week for a combined 55-and-a-half years for the 'evil and truly barbaric' attack, in which the 37-year-old was stabbed, beaten with a metal pole, burnt, and had clumps of her hair removed.
She was also threatened with the rape of her and her daughter during the 'medieval' ordeal at Henrietta House in Dublin last September 26.
In a post on the Facebook page for Sonas Domestic Abuse, David Hall, CEO, said that in the wake of Natalie's story becoming public, 'there has been an incredible outpouring of support, compassion and collective outrage'.
'So many of you have reached out to Sonas, and to me, personally, asking how you can help as Natalie faces the long and difficult road of rebuilding her life after enduring unimaginable abuse,' Mr Hall wrote.
'On behalf of Natalie and all of us at Sonas, thank you for the solidarity, the outrage, and the kindness.
'We're passing on every message to Natalie, and your support truly means the world.'
The post includes a link with a donate button where '100% of your donation will go directly towards Natalie's care'.
Sean Conroy (21), Mark McMahon (55), Mark Keogh (33), Kian Walshe (22) and Braxton Rice (20) all admitted to falsely imprisoning the woman at Henrietta House
Speaking outside the court on behalf of Natalie, 'a woman who was lured, trapped and subjected to a level of violence and cruelty that defies belief,' Mr Hall said this was not an assault 'it was torture deliberate, sustained and devastating'.
Mr Hall added: 'I would like to thank Justice Codd on Neasa's behalf for her compassion towards me and her understanding of the horror I was subjected to and for imposing sentences that recognised the gravity of the crimes inflicted upon me.'
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how Ms Ennis was beaten to the head and body with a metal pole, burned with a makeshift blow torch and a heated hammer head, cut with a knife, kicked and punched, had her hair cut off and was threatened with rape.
Five of the eight men present that day entered guilty pleas, while another man and a juvenile are still before the courts. The eighth person is not before the courts.
Natalie Ennis
News in 90 Seconds - Saturday, August 2
Mark Keogh (33), Mark McMahon (55) and Braxton Rice (21), all of Henrietta House, Henrietta Place, Dublin 7, along with Sean Conroy (21) of Sillogue Road, Ballymun and Kian Walshe (22) of Constitution Hill, Dublin 7, all pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault causing harm to the woman at Henrietta House on 26 September 2024.
We later revealed how the torture gang were dealing drugs for a significant crime figure in the Tallaght area at the time of the attack.
The drugs boss, who is aged in his mid-30s, runs a large-scale cocaine operation in the capital, with sources saying his name 'constantly features' in drug-related investigations around the city.
In her victim impact statement Ms Ennis said that if "the police hadn't come in that day" she was "sure" she was dead.
Speaking later to Prime Time, Ms Ennis said the assault has left her traumatised, physically scarred, and fearful to leave her home.
"They beat me with metal poles. They were coming at me with flying kicks into the face. They were standing on my head on the floor. Then they were heating up hammers and sticking them to my legs... I had a hatchet held to my neck and then it was stuck in my head," she said.
"After that, they spat at me as well. That was one thing. They were just beating me to a pulp. There's no words for it."
One of the men, she said: "was coming at me with a blowtorch and he was putting in my face and burnt my ear and my face".
"It was just unbearable. The pain was unbearable. I had bones sticking out of my elbow...it was just pure evil what they done to me."
Ms Ennis was left with serious injuries after the attack, that she still suffers from today.
"I had staples in my head leaving hospital as well. I can't remember how many, but it was a good lot from the hatchet being stuck in my head," she said. "I can't feel that side of my face still to this day."
Her teeth were also significantly damaged. "My teeth was knocked down my head, so my confidence when I'm smiling, it's just, I don't really smile."
At one point during the assault, she said, the men threatened to rape her.
The men also threatened to rape her daughter, she said, adding they 'were going to go to my daughter's school, she was 17 at the time, and they were going to rape her'.
In the wake of the conviction, Mr Hall said there had been an 'abject failure' of the State to join up all the services required by victims.
'It will be eleven months before Natalie has a psychiatric appointment,' he said.
'There's a raft of basic services that are needed. There is an abject failure to join the dots to ensure all services required by victims are offered.'
He said: 'It's expensive to be a victim of crime', noting that there is a large cost associated with being a victim, citing health appointments as an example.