A BELFAST man who tried to kidnap a female student inside her apartment block has been jailed for four and and a half years.
Passing sentence at Belfast Crown Court, a judge told Gareth Robert McClurg that he assessed him as being "dangerous'' and would spend a further three years on licence.
McClurg (24), formerly of Tower Street, pleaded guilty in June on the morning his trial was due to start to a charge of attempted kidnapping.
Prosecution lawyer Mark Farrell said the university student was returning to her apartment in Belfast around teatime on August 24, 2015.
He told Judge Geoffrey Miller QC that she let herself into the secure communal area of the complex and noticed a male person behind her.
"As she was walking towards the lift she felt some male grab her from behind, put his hand over her mouth to prevent her from speaking or screaming and dragged towards the door to the carpark.
"She began to struggle with him during the incident, which lasted no more than five to ten seconds, before the defendant eventually let go of her.''
The judge heard that CCTV footage showed McClurg struggling to get the door to the apartment block open before eventually escaping.
Crime scene investigators later visited the apartment block and recovered fingerprints from the door which were later matched to the defendant, the court heard.
The prosecution lawyer said that later the same evening, police responded to a report of a male in Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast armed with a black handled claw hammer and was heard saying: "I am going to hurt someone.'' McClurg was arrested and taken into custody.
He added that McClurg had an extensive record, which totalled 70 convictions, and had been assessed by the probation service as being dangerous.
Defence counsel Terry McDonald QC said McClurg had previously been treated in Muckamore Hospital for mental health problems and would require treatment and support in the future.
Judge Geoffrey Miller QC said that whatever McClurg's motive for trying to kidnap the female student, she believed the motive was for a "sexual assault'' and the attack was a "serious and specified offence''.
