A man charged with raping a woman twice in her own home while posing as a TV technician more than 20 years ago was denied bail in what the judge described as “one of the most difficult bail applications” she had ever considered.
A hearing of the District Court in Dún Laoghaire on Monday was told that the Irishman (68), based in Dublin, has been charged with two counts of rape, one count of false imprisonment and one count of aggravated burglary.
All the charges arise from an attack on a woman, then in her 30s, in her own home in a housing estate in south Dublin in March 2003.
A previous court hearing last week heard that he replied “not guilty” as each of the four charges was put to him.
Appearing before Judge Anne Watkin in a navy sweatshirt and light grey tracksuit bottoms, the accused, who cannot be named under court rules covering sexual crime cases, did not say anything.
The State objected to his bail application on multiple grounds, including the so-called O’Callaghan principles, which are based on the likelihood that someone will evade justice by not showing up to court, the likelihood that property that could be used as evidence will be disposed of and interference with witnesses.
Andrew Vallely, the solicitor representing the defendant, told the court that his client had never come to the attention of gardaí or appeared before the courts charged with any crime.
He said his client had agreed to sign on at a Garda station twice a day and would live at an address deemed suitable by the courts while on bail.
His arrest followed a Garda investigation into the attack on the morning of March 31st, 2003, during which the victim was allegedly sexually attacked in an ordeal that lasted a long time.
The State alleges the man, who would have been aged about 45 at the time, was the attacker on the day, though no findings have been reached.
At a previous hearing, gardaí said an extensive investigation took place in 2003, with “hundreds of investigative jobs undertaken and over 100 statements taken”.
The investigation had remained open despite the passage of more than 23 years. In 2023, a Garda peer review of the inquiry was initiated by a new investigation team attached to the Garda’s Dublin Metropolitan Region East Serious Crime Unit under a senior investigating officer.
The work carried out on the case since then resulted in the suspect’s arrest and court appearances.
During Monday’s hearing, the court was told that pornographic videos and photographs connected with rape and forced entry into private homes had been found on the accused’s phone after his arrest last Wednesday.
There was also evidence that the man’s DNA had been linked to the alleged assault and there were witnesses who put him at the scene on the day it happened.
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The hearing was also told there was evidence that the woman’s hand had been bound by cables during the assault, which, it is said, took place while her six-month-old child was in the house.
“This is one of the most difficult bail applications I have ever had to consider,” Judge Watkin said, as she noted the seriousness of the charges and the “huge” consequences if the man were to reoffend while out on bail.
She accepted that the man had never come before the courts before but said, “We know that he has not been charged; we don’t know that nothing has happened. I have no evidence, one way or the other, and I am not suggesting there may be other cases. All we can say is he has not been charged.”
Judge Watkin noted that “23 years after the events were said to have taken place” the fact that “violent pornography, including rape and forced entry” were found on his phone “was of concern”.
The judge said the case was “far from open and shut” and said that, ultimately, it would come down to consent.
The court heard the man was estranged from his wife and had family living overseas, but the judge said that he had clear ties to Ireland.
“The charge is so significant and so serious. We are talking about life and death,” she said as she denied the bail application and remanded him in Cloverhill District Court in advance of a fresh hearing on November 10th.