A MAN HAS appeared in court in Cork charged in connection with a random street assault which led to the hospitalisation of a well-known Dublin businesswoman with both a dislocated and fractured ankle.

Conor Greaney (25) appeared before Cork District Court yesterday.

He took to the stand during a bail application and said that the assault on Dublin boutique owner Selina Regazzoli last Thursday morning outside the GPO in Cork arose following a case of mistaken identity.

Garda Orla Moriarty gave evidence of the arrest, charge and and caution of Greaney who is of no fixed abode.

Greaney made no reply when he was charged with assault causing harm to Regazzoli on 7 March last. The offence is contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. It occurred at 9.40am last Thursday.

A Garda objection to the granting of bail in the case was made arising out of the gravity of the charge and the strength of the evidence.

Garda Moriarty said that Greaney approached Regazzoli (35) outside the GPO in Cork city centre and struck her in the face in an entirely unprovoked assault on her person.

Garda Moriarty said that the accused man hit and pushed the victim.

Regazzoli fell to the ground and dislocated and fractured her right ankle. She was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where she underwent surgery.

Garda Moriarty said that the assault was captured on CCTV and that Greaney had admitted he was the person responsible for it when he was questioned by gardaí.

Garda Moriarty said that Greaney had told gardaí that Regazzoli was not the intended target of his attack. However, she stated that he warned that he would get the intended person on the the next occasion.

She said gardaí were concerned that Greaney would commit further crimes if granted bail and would possibly interfere with witnesses in the case.

Cross examined by barrister, Elaine Audley BL, Garda Moriarty accepted that the victim was from Dublin and was not residing in Cork.

However, Garda Moriarty said that Regazzoli has a large social media presence with over 28,000 followers on Instagram. She said that Greaney might opt to make contact online.

Greaney indicated that he had been addicted to cocaine and benzodiazepines. He said he was drug free for 36 months up until his recent relapse.

He told Judge Mary Dorgan that he was on the road to becoming a very competent bricklayer when his grandfather died shortly before Christmas 2023. He said that he relapsed following this seismic loss in his life.

Greaney said that he felt bad about what had happened.

“I’m not going to Dublin looking for an innocent woman, I feel terrible, I’m disgusted with myself – I am not a monster – I didn’t intend to go as hard as I did – I didn’t intend to break anyone’s bones.

“The offence had nothing to do with my addiction – I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did – I meant to more or less frighten the woman – that was all,” he told Judge Mary Dorgan.

“I am a drug addict (but) I’m not saying I have no self-control- I thought it was somebody else that was harassing me – I meant to frighten her, I didn’t mean for her to twist and break her ankle.”

Judge Dorgan said that gardaí had made a strong case in opposing bail for Greaney who is originally from Farranaree in Cork city.

She remanded Greaney in custody to appear again at Cork District Court on 14 March by video link.