Man charged with city centre rape (Bohermore) to face Central Criminal Court trial

MLH1

A 23-year-old Co Galway man has been returned for trial to the present sittings of the Central Criminal Court charged with the alleged rape of a woman in the city centre less than five months ago.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Judge Mary Fahy at Galway District Court on Monday charged with rape, aggravated assault, and assault causing harm at a city centre location on October 16, 2010.

Garda Gerard Morrissey gave evidence of serving the book of evidence on the accused man before the court sitting. Inspector Mick Coppinger informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions has consented to the accused being returned for trial to the present sittings of the Central Criminal Court.

Judge Fahy returned the accused for trial to the Central Criminal Court before giving him an alibi warning and granting free legal aid. She also granted an application for one junior and one senior counsel.

barryd09

whats an alibi warning??

skelliser

it means the defense have to produce an alibi for the defendent within a certain time so that the DPP can investigate it, call witnesses, take statements etc before the trial starts.

barryd09

skelliser wrote: »

it means the defense have to produce an alibi for the defendent within a certain time.

aaah,cheers.
so in other words the defendant is flat out denying any involvement in this?

skelliser

barryd09 wrote: »

aaah,cheers.
so in other words the defendant is flat out denying any involvement in this?

probably, iirc he cant decide to produce an alibi in the middle of the trial.
The prosecution need time to prepare.

Idont know what the penalties are, i would assume that if he doesnt produce one any future attempts will be inadmissible.

In this case it would suggest that the defendant has refused to cooperate with the investigators.

Kristopherus

Is that the fcuker that was caught after a passer-by reported a row down a lane to the Gardai, not realising what was actually going on?

Beruthiel

I have just deleted two comments which are nothing more than speculation at this point.

Please only discuss FACTS or bans will be handed out.

Lensbaby89

Why is this case going to trial already? I had the same thing happen over a year ago and the DPP haven't even returned a verdict as to what he can be charged with yet. Even then I've been told it can take more than a year to get to court. Is it a sort of triage system it runs on whereby someone decides which crimes are worst and therefore get first priority as to trial dates?

biko

Just a guess but maybe some cases take lesser time to prepare.

Mrs OBumble

I seem to remember there were only a few hours between media reports of the event and the arrest. It may be a particularly uncomplicated case.

Sempai

Lensbaby89 wrote: »

Why is this case going to trial already? I had the same thing happen over a year ago and the DPP haven't even returned a verdict as to what he can be charged with yet. Even then I've been told it can take more than a year to get to court. Is it a sort of triage system it runs on whereby someone decides which crimes are worst and therefore get first priority as to trial dates?

as far as i'm aware the defendant was caught near the scene and was remanded in custody. In such a case, where a person is in custody, there's a time limit on getting directions, charging and serving book of evidence on defendant. also depends on evidence available, amount of witnesses to be interviewed etc

Lensbaby89

Thanks to JustMary and Sempai, you're both probably right re amount of witnesses and the evidence to be considered, it just makes me sad and frustrated.