Man accused of raping and falsely imprisoning 19-year-old employee refused bail

It is alleged accused drove woman to his apartment where he forced her to drink vodka and raped her, court heard

Gardaí objected to bail on the basis of the seriousness of the allegations and because gardaí believed the accused would leave the jurisdiction rather than stand trial. Picture: Larry Cummins 

A 37-year-old man accused of raping and falsely imprisoning a 19-year-old woman who worked for him has been refused bail.

Detective Garda Paul Cogan of the Protection Services Unit at Anglesea Street Garda Station charged the defendant with rape and false imprisonment.

The detective objected to bail being granted to the accused, who was 35 at the time of the alleged incident, at Cork District Court because of the seriousness of what was alleged in relation to August 18 2021. 

He said the complainant, who is now 21 and was 19 at the time, sustained a physical injury when she tried to stop the rape from happening.

In May and June of 2021, it is alleged the accused's behaviour towards her was inappropriate and she was in fear of him It is alleged the young woman was alone in the business premises on the evening of August 17, 2021, when the accused returned in an intoxicated condition as she was locking up.

“She said he arrived in an intoxicated state and asked her to have a glass of wine with him. He opened a bottle of wine,” Det Garda Cogan said.

He said the complainant said she agreed to have some wine as she did not want to aggravate him. He then asked her to have some vodka with him.

“She said she needed to go home but he drove her to his apartment… He forced her to drink more vodka… He was aggressive,” Det Garda Cogan said.

The complainant alleged he would not let her leave the apartment and that he raped her there.

She told gardaí when he fell asleep at about 6am on the morning of August 18, 2021, she took the opportunity to leave the apartment. She said he woke and came to the door of the property as she was leaving.

Believing he was going to follow her, she ran from the apartment and hid in undergrowth some distance away and phoned her mother to come and collect her.

Det Garda Cogan objected to bail on the basis of the seriousness of the allegations and because gardaí believed the accused would leave the jurisdiction rather than stand trial.

Michael Quinlan, defence solicitor, said the defendant was applying for bail and the alleged incident dated back to August 2021 and that the accused had been available to gardaí throughout that time and had not left the jurisdiction.

Judge John King refused bail and remanded the accused in custody until May 31.

There is a legal prohibition against identification of the parties in this case.