A court has been told that a convicted rapist, extradited back from London last week, remains locked in his cell at Limerick Prison 24 hours a day because he has not been placed in a secure unit.
Graham Haugh (21), of Drumina, Dysert, Corofin, Co Clare, appeared yesterday at a special sitting of Ennis District Court in relation to three of the five warrants on which he originally appeared in court last week.
When he appeared in court last Tuesday, Haugh was remanded in custody by Judge Aeneas McCarthy who, following a request from the accused's solicitor Patrick Moylan, said that he would instruct the court clerk to inform the governor of Limerick Prison that Haugh "may be under some threat".
Yesterday, however, the court was told that despite a request to have Haugh placed in a secure unit at the prison, this has not happened.
"I can't direct the prison governor to do anything but maybe the gardaí could inform the authorities that Mr Haugh is under threat," Judge Leo Malone said.
Haugh was found guilty in March 2004 of buggering and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in April 2001.
Haugh, who was 15 years old at the time of the offences, was one of three males who raped and sexually assaulted the boy. Haugh was not given a custodial sentence.
The court instead recommended therapy for the accused, to which he consented.
In 2005, however, Haugh absconded from the jurisdiction to England, breaching the conditions of his probation.
Yesterday, he was remanded in custody to appear at Ennis District Court again next Monday, August 13th.