A Mayo man was this week sent forward to the Central Criminal Court to face a number of charges including rape, false imprisonment, sexual assault, and threatening to kill or cause harm.
The defendant was in court in Ballyhaunis to be served with the book of evidence before he was sent forward for trial. The alleged offence took place in January 2009, but the man had moved to the UK since that time. State Solicitor Vincent Deane told the court that gardaí became aware that the defendant had returned to the jurisdiction for the Christmas period and, despite a number of attempts to locate him, they were unsuccessful. They eventually were able to take him into custody when he was stopped by gardaí in Dublin port in January as he attempted to get a ferry back to the UK.
Judge Mary Devins refused a request from his solicitor for bail after gardaí raised concerns since the defendant had twice tried to contact the victim on Facebook since the alleged offence occurred.
