Former schools rugby player, Buti Sashi, has been found guilty of committing violent attacks on Transgender sex workers. The 26 year-old was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Justice Eileen Creedon at the Central Criminal Court on Monday, October 17.

According to reports, the assailant carried out attacks on two separate occasions, one on the night of May 26, 2017, and another a month later on June 28. Sashi arranged to meet with the victims in their city centre apartments, and in both instances, he arrived armed with a large knife.

In the first attack, Sashi hit a Transgender sex worker in the face and body before cutting her with his weapon. He is said to have demanded sex, and sexually assaulted her before stealing her mobile phone and laptop. The woman was left with fractures in her jaw and eye socket bone.

In a victim impact statement relating to the assault, the sex worker described her horror at seeing the large knife, and said she felt like she was in a horror movie with blood smeared throughout the apartment.

“The only reason he stopped was there was so much blood and I think he was disgusted by the blood,” she explained. Once Sashi left the apartment, the victim said she was left “alone, totally humiliated and destroyed”.

The woman added that the attack has left her feeling scared and vulnerable even five years later, and she continues to have nightmares relating to the incident.

“I work to support my family, especially my younger brother who is sick,” she revealed.

In the second attack, Sashi forced his way into the flat of a different Transgender sex worker, accompanied by another man. The pair began beating the victim and stole two mobile phones from her. 

When a housemate tried to intervene, the two men attacked him, breaking his jaw and cutting him twice with the knife. The housemate was made to hand over his phone, laptop and €300 in cash.

In an official statement, the sex worker involved in the June attack said she will never forget the night. She explained that the men were excessively violent, and it seemed that their motives were not simply to rob valuables, but rather to hurt them.

The victim said she moved out of her flat after the event as she no longer felt safe, adding that she has been unable to send money to her family who remains in her home country.

At the sentencing hearing on Monday, Justice Creedon said that the victims were foreign nationals, vulnerable because of their work. She also said that the attacks were premeditated, and therefore an aggravating factor of the case.

The perpetrator pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery, two of assault causing harm, one of sexual assault, and one of production of a weapon.

Justice Creedon said that Sashi was at a high risk of committing more sexual offences and at a very high risk of carrying out violent offences. She sentenced him to a 12-year prison spell, suspending the final two years on the condition that the man engages with the Probation Services after his release.

Sashi has five previous convictions, including one for another assault on a sex worker, and sex worker thefts from around the same time of incidents brought to court on Monday. Last June, Judge Martin Nolan imposed a five-year prison term for these offences.

Defending counsel Maurice Coffey SC previously stated that at the time of committing the crimes, his client was “out of control” with a drug problem. Sashi, formerly of Tyrconnell Grove, Inchicore, Dublin, was involved with Leinster Rugby at under-15 level, and went on to play for Blackrock, Liberty Saints and Guinness RFC.

If you have been affected by this story or are looking to reach out to someone for support, advice or just to talk, there are numerous services available for LGBTQ+ people, listed below, and many offer instant messaging support.
SpuntOut.ie
LGBT Helpline
TENI
Samaritans
HIV Ireland
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Pieta House
Mental Health Ireland
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland