Cork man who served nine years for his part in rape of woman arrested after allegedly approaching victim

Defendant arrested after twice trying to flee from gardaí, who had a warrant for his arrest for breaching court order no to contact victim, court told

Defendant was released from prison on January 29, with the tenth year of a 10-year sentence suspended on conditions that required him to have no contact with the victim of the rape. Picture: Larry Cummins

A wanted man who was sought by gardaí for allegedly approaching a rape victim shortly after his release from a lengthy sentence for the crime was caught after fleeing from a checkpoint in Mallow at the weekend.

Detective Garda Noelle MacSweeney gave evidence of Keith Ahern allegedly making two separate efforts to flee from gardaí after he was spotted in the taxi that was driven up to a Garda checkpoint on Saturday night/Sunday morning May 30/31.

Det Garda MacSweeney testified on Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork: “A taxi pulled up to a checkpoint. The man in the front passenger seat gave his name as [false name]. As I approached, he took off, running.

“I arrested this man after he fled on foot and he was found to be Keith Ahern. He was brought back to Mallow Garda Station and it was found that a warrant was in existence for his arrest.

“He had injured his fingers in the course of his arrest and he was brought to hospital. On the way back from the hospital to Mallow Garda Station he tried to jump from the patrol car.” 

The 32-year-old was re-arrested and brought to court on Tuesday morning. The warrant for his arrest was issued on April 13. Detective Sergeant Katrine Tansley said on that occasion that days after being released at the end of nine years in jail for rape, Keith Ahern breached a court order and approached the victim on the street.

Det Garda Tansley said Keith Ahern was released from prison on January 29, with the tenth year of a 10-year sentence suspended on conditions that required him to have no contact with the victim of the rape.

The detective said the victim alleged that on February 10 this year, Keith Ahern approached her on a street in Cork City and that there was CCTV to support the allegation.

Keith Ahern was living at Sawmill Lane, Sawmill Street, Cork, at the time of the rape in Cork City on a night in June 2013.

While he did not physically rape the woman himself, he was part of a joint enterprise by holding her down while his friend raped her. He pleaded not guilty to rape but a jury found him guilty.

He was represented in court on Tuesday by barrister Alan O’Dwyer, who said his understanding was the complainant no longer wanted to give evidence in the matter. He said Keith Ahern was quite agitated. 

He said the defendant would turn up on Thursday if released on bail for the State’s application to have the suspended one-year portion of the sentence activated because of the alleged breach of conditions requiring him to have no contact with the victim.

Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford remanded him in custody and said: “You are pushing a boulder up a hill asking for bail.

The question of whether the one year will have to be served by Keith Ahern will be addressed on June 4.