An Athlone man accused of rape was bailed from the District Court this week (July 1 ) after being served with a Book of Evidence, and had his case returned for a date in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
A decision on this will be made on July 27, when he will be allocated a court date for some time between October and May 2010.
The 26-year-old with an address in Athlone, was again remanded on a €5,000 bond on the same conditions as laid down by the court on his last appearance on May 27, which included having no contact with the injured party.
Ciaran Madigan, Director of Public Prosecution in Roscommon, consented to the continuing bail and its conditions, which demanded he reside at his given address, have no contact with the injured party or any of the prosecution witnesses, not loiter around or near the residence of the injured party, and lead a sober and industrious life.
The accused was assigned legal aid for his solicitor, Mr Padraig Quinn, as well as for junior and senior barristers for his date in the Central Criminal Court for the offence, alleged to have occurred in Athlone on September 28, 2007.
There was some confusion in court as to whether the accused had any contact with the alleged victim as he had said in court on his last appearance that he knew where she was after she was supposed to have phoned him.
However, investigating garda, Detective Garda Suzanne Nolan, told the court she was satisfied the defendant had no knowledge of the alleged victim's whereabouts.
Mr Quinn asked the judge if he could order anonymity in the press for his client.
Judge John Neilan told Mr Quinn he didn't need to lecture the media “even though they seem to lecture me” but he did suggest “they don't overstep the mark”.
The defendant also sought the return of his passport to facilitate some documentation for his wife and though this was challenged, Judge Neilan allowed it because the passport had been voluntarily surrendered and was not in State possession by dint of court order.
