Rape accused breached bail conditions

A man accused of raping a woman four times in one night last January breached his bail conditions by leaving Cork for an art exhibition and failing to return for two days.

The 27-year-old man faces charges of aggravated sexual assault, assault causing harm, sexual assault, and four counts of raping the woman at a house in Cork on January 4.

Garda James Buckley served the book of evidence on the accused yesterday and said gardaí were opposed to his continuing bail in light of the recent breach.

He was required to keep a curfew to be at home every night by 11pm until 7am and sign regularly at his local Garda station.

However, he went missing for two nights recently and did not notify gardaí of his movements.

At Cork District Court, Inspector Michael McGuire said the prosecution was objecting to bail due to the breaches of his bail conditions on what he described as very serious charges.

Judge Malone agreed that the charges included counts that carried possible life imprisonment on conviction.

The accused told his solicitor, Eamon Moloney, he had gone to an art exhibition in a remote area and was relying on a friend to drive him home after the event. However, he claimed there was free wine at the event and his friend had become too drunk to drive back to Cork.

The following day, the friend did not want to return to Cork, the defendant testified. He added that there was no public transport available at the time from the particular area.

Judge Malone said he would give the accused one chance to remain on bail and keep the conditions.