THE man jailed for 15 years for the attempted murder of a French student was a former special services soldier in Lithuania who had four previous convictions in Ireland.

Aleksejus Belousovas used his heroin addiction as an excuse for cutting the throat of Barbara Riouall but his previous convictions happened long before he started using drugs.

Gardai have never interviewed the 29-year-old because he fled the country just a day before he was identified through CCTV footage taken close to the Dublin apartment complex where the attack took place on 10 May 2005.

He was eventually tracked down in Britain and extradited and was charged immediately, meaning the detectives couldn't question him. His statement in court was the first time that officers heard an explanation as to what drove him to cut the throat of 24year-old Riouall while robbing her of 3.

Belousovas has four previous convictions for two public order incidents, theft and a road traffic offence, with the first taking place in 2002. He was not known to police in Lithuania.

Officers believe that the trained chef may have exaggerated his addiction as an excuse. They point out that he had a steady job while he was supposedly borrowing large sums of money to buy drugs.

He spoke in court but offered little explanation as to why he cut his victim's throat twice and stabbed her in the neck before attempting to break it.

A senior garda said: "We never got to talk to Belousovas because he had left the jurisdiction before we positively identified him. He was extradited back on foot of the CCTV evidence so was immediately charged. His evidence in court was the first we heard from him. He used the drug line and it was an easy thing for him to do but it doesn't fully explain what happened. Most addicts would just rob somebody and that would be it. He intended to kill Barbara Riouall, no doubt about it. He was a welltrained special services soldier and she was extremely lucky to have survived.

"He wasn't that bad an addict because he worked in some nice hotels and restaurants without anyone noticing this addiction. I suppose we'll just have to take him at his word, " added the source.

Barbara Riouall was in Ireland studying at the Dublin Business School and was attacked outside the Bertram Court apartment complex near Christ Church.

Belousovas had arrived in Ireland in 2001 and worked as a chef before getting a job in construction working on the Dart and Luas lines. He claimed that he got into the drugs trade "just for fun" and decided to rob somebody after buying fake heroin on Thomas Street.

Barbara Riouall's life has been destroyed since the attack and in a harrowing witness impact statement she said: "I should have been dead under the stairs".

She turned down the chance of a face-to-face meeting with Belousovas and instead chose to speak in open court.

"I became very frail and I am often sick and I am really exhausted. I don't work all the day as I could before this happened. The view of a knife is very difficult for me and I can't use a kitchen knife now."

While she was recovering from her injuries in St James' Hospital, she feared that Belousovas would come back to kill her. She was eventually transferred to Marseilles and required 24-hour care for 18 months.

Her ordeal also affected her family; she described how her younger sister is afraid to go out alone and is scared when people knock on the door.

Belousovas was sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder, ten years for assault causing serious harm and five years for attempted robbery. All the sentences are to run concurrently.