GARDAI had issued an alert describing the man charged with the brutal rape of a former prostitute in 1994 as "extremely dangerous and possibly armed", a jury was told yesterday.
The defendant was stopped for a road traffic offence on Tivoli Bridge in Cork two days after the reported rape and claimed he was "Anthony Maguire" from Newry, but his driving licence contained a Dundalk address.
Garda Desmond Quinn, of Mayfield station, told the Central Criminal Court the defendant didn't "have a clue" of the address given and as a result he was arrested for giving a false and misleading name,
When Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC, defending, suggested the defendant's photograph was on the driving licence, Garda Quinn replied: "It was not a genuine licence. It was a stolen licence."
It was the ninth day of the trial of a 36 year old man, who has pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning a woman, then a Dublin prostitute, on December 29th-30th, 1994. He also denies raping and sexually assaulting her in the Wicklow mountains later the same night.
Garda Quinn told Mr Pat O'Connell, prosecuting, that the defendant had booked into a guest house in Cork earlier on the morning of January 1st, 1995, saying he had been sleeping in his car.
For two days, the defendant kept insisting he was "Anthony Maguire" and was very convincing even though gardai had verified that both addresses he gave were wrong, said Garda Quinn.
Two other gardai also told the court that while the defendant was in custody on the night of January 1st he kept kicking and banging the cell door. He continually hit the door with his head and was "frothing at the mouth".
He told gardai he would be "marked for court in the morning" and that he would allege Garda brutality. When checked at 2 a.m., he had an abrasion on the side of his head and he said "look what you have done to me".
Sgt Flor Horan, also of Mayfield station, said the defendant finally gave his correct name in the precincts of Cork District Court after meeting a Waterford detective he knew well.
Garda Quinn agreed that if the defendant had given his real name he would probably have arrested him anyway for the alleged rape.
Witness did not agree with Mr O'Carroll that the defendant gave his real name and added that his alias was "Anthony Maguire". However, he did agree that, when charged, the defendant claimed he used the name "Anthony Maguire" to get car insurance.
He agreed the defendant offered no resistance when arrested even though a Garda fax message advised he should be approached with caution as he was "extremely dangerous and possibly armed".
The trial, before Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, continues today.