Arrest warrant issued for convicted killer Ian Horgan as he fails to appear in court

Convicted killer, rapist, drug dealer and armed robber Ian Horgan is accused of applying to open an account on the Tinder dating app in contravention of the Sex Offenders Act 2001. File photo/ Brian Arthur/ Press 22.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the convicted killer and rapist Ian Horgan when he failed to appear at Macroom District Court in connection with an alleged breach of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

Judge James McNulty issued the warrant when Mr Horgan’s solicitor Sean Cahill told the court that his client “has not been in touch”. Mr Cahill said that Mr Horgan “should be here, but he isn’t” and when asked by Judge McNulty if he was expected to turn up later in the day admitted that it was highly unlikely.

It is the second time that an arrest warrant has been issued for Mr Horgan in connection with the charge, the first occasion in October 2021 was also following his failure to appear in court.

Mr Horgan, aged 37, and with an address at 53 Byrne Avenue, Prospect in Co. Limerick is accused of applying to open an account on the Tinder dating app between May 24 and 31 last year using the alias ‘Cian’. Gardaí allege that in doing so he was in contravention of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

Mr Horgan has claimed that the use of the name Cian was a simple typo and not the creation of an alias. At a hearing in October 2021, the court was told that Mr Horgan had lost the phone he used to apply for the Tinder account.

The State is in the process of officially requesting data from Tinder in relation to the application which must go through the US Justice Department and could take up to eight months to complete.

Ian Horgan was jailed for the rape and killing of beautician Rachel Kiely who was attacked while walking her dogs in a park in Ballincollig in 2002. Horgan was 16-years-old at the time of the attack.