A woman has been acquitted of kidnap and sexual assault after the Crown offered no evidence against her.
Maria Covaci was due to go on trial at Antrim Crown Court facing 13 charges arising from events on November 13 2021 but after a jury was sworn in, prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher confirmed she was offering no evidence against the 31-year-old.
Romanian national Covaci, with a bail address at Ur Chill in Crossmaglen, had been charged with two counts of kidnapping, two false imprisonment, two assault, three charges of making threats to kill and single counts of sexual assault, causing actual bodily harm, having a knife in public and possessing the weapon with intent to wound.
Previous courts heard how one of the female complainants was allegedly bundled into a car, bound with tape, had her head shaved, stripped half naked and threatened that she was going to be an “internet star".
When Covaci was first charged in December 2021, a police officer outlined how the two victims were initially reported as missing persons but when police spoke to them, they reported how they had left their address in Ballymena when two men bundled the struggling women into a waiting car and drove away.
Having been driven to a rural location, it was alleged that one of the victims was ordered to kneel in front of the car’s headlights and after she was “taped up,” her head was shaved.
“She was photographed by the suspect who said she was going to make her an internet star,” claimed police.
In court on Monday, Judge Alistair Devlin told the jury the PPS had decided “it’s not in the public interest to offer any evidence for reasons which do not concern you”.
As Covaci was entitled to have her name cleared, he ordered them to enter verdicts of not guilty by direction and having done so, he told Covaci she was free to go.