Sex assault man said he ‘was just falling forward’

A young woman working at a nightclub on New Year’s Eve testified yesterday that a man grabbed her bum and her breast and then smiled smugly at her.

Kieran O’Donovan, aged 28, denied the sexual assault on January 1, 2015, and claimed at Cork Circuit Appeals Court that he stumbled after drink and that it was accidental and not sexual.

O’Donovan was convicted and sentenced to three months by Cork District Court but appealed the conviction and sentence to Cork Circuit Appeals Court yesterday.

In court, he said: “I stumbled forward and made contact with the girl. This girl said I sexually assaulted her. I am very sorry if that is what she thinks but it is not true. I was just falling forward, it was the first thing I grabbed. It was unfortunate, there was no sexual intent involved.”

Judge Gerard O’Brien said: “I am satisfied he touched her inappropriately and I affirm the district court order.”

He adjourned the question of sentencing on the sexual assault charge for a week.”