KILDARE COURT: Man accused of indecent assault ran when he saw garda

A man facing three allegations of indecently assaulting a young girl ran away when he saw a garda.

The man appeared before Naas District court  facing three indecent assault claims against a girl who was aged 8-10 years at the time.

Detective Garda Christine Brady said the assaults were alleged to have taken place between December 1982 and December 1984 and the girl was a neighbour.

The court heard that the defendant’s garden backs on to the garden of the injured party's family.

Det Gda Brady said it will be claimed that the defendant came across the fence, spoke to the girl and touched her vagina.

The garda said she was objecting to bail because after he was first charged the defendant did not attend court when returned for trial.

The court also heard that on a subsequent date she telephoned him on 20 occasions but he only answered once.

She also said that the matter was listed to be heard in Drogheda (because of the restrictions on court attendance imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic) and he failed to appear.

The court further heard that the man was to reside at an address in Dublin but he was not there and his phone was turned off.

“On another occasion when he saw me, he took off running,” she added.

She also said that another time he waited one and a half hours for him and he did not turn up.

Barrister Mark Gibbons said the defendant’s phone had been stolen. He also said that the defendant has concerns about being in the court system. He said he would undertake to observe any signing on conditions and  would answer his phone.

“He is acutely aware of his situation but he had not been in trouble before and he has extreme stress and anxiety.”

He noted the defendant is in custody and it’s not known for how long he will be.

Judge Desmond Zaidan said the objections of bail were well founded in law and he had no choice but to refuse bail.