A 35-YEAR-OLD MAN has been remanded in custody after being charged with the rape of a young woman when she went to use a public toilet in a Co Cork town.
The man was brought before a special sitting of Kanturk District Court at 11pm on Thursday where he was charged with raping the woman in Church Street on March 9th last.
Garda Tom O’Neill gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution in relation to the accused, who can’t be named for legal reasons, and told the court that the man replied, “No”, after the charge was put to him.
Insp Tony Sugrue told Judge Tim Lucey that gardaí were objecting to bail and were prepared to call evidence to support their application for a remand in custody.
Judge Lucey asked if the man was seeking bail and his solicitor, David O’Connor, said his client wanted bail but had little money and that he also expected gardaí to raise the fact that he had only been in Ireland for a very short time.
Judge Lucey said he didn’t wish to pre-empt any arguments that might be made but suggested that deferring the issue of bail might be preferable as it would give Mr O’Connor the opportunity to fully prepare his bail application.
Deferring the issue of bail would also allow Mr O’Connor to arrange witnesses he might wish to call in support of the application, if that was agreeable to the accused, said Judge Lucey.
Mr O’Connor consulted, through a Polish interpreter, with his client, who consented to a remand in custody with a deferral on bail issue. The accused is to appear in court again on April 7th.