A HEALTH AND Safety officer, who put his hand up a woman’s skirt and forcibly groped her as she walked through Dublin’s Temple Bar, was identified from pictures taken by her immediately after the attack, a court has heard.
Bryan Doherty, from Co Mayo but who has an address on the Navan Road, Dublin, had followed the woman before he put his hand up her skirt, grabbed her vagina area and then walked away.
He was remanded in custody today by Judge Brian O’Shea at Dublin District Court after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at Cope Street on 22 June last.
Following an application by the media today Judge O’Shea lifted reporting restrictions imposed earlier which had prevented Doherty from being named.
Detective Garda Brendan Nolan told the court that a lone female was walking home from work through Temple Bar when she was approached from behind by a male who was not known to her. She had her headphones on at the time.
The young woman told gardaí that the man “reached under her skirt and grabbed inside her underwear”. She told Detective Garda Nolan that the area the man grabbed was beside her vagina.
The court heard she turned around in fright and “this male proceeded to walk past her and the injured party followed the male and managed to take photographs of this male”. A print-out of one of the photos was handed in to the judge who said it was clearly and undeniably the accused.
Judge O’Shea heard Doherty was later identified from the photos by a previous employer who assisted gardaí in their inquiries.
Video evidence
Gardaí also obtained video evidence from the area and the footage captured the entire incident, the court was told.
The young woman was present for the hearing but not required to give evidence. But she had provided the court with a victim impact statement. Judge O’Shea noted she recalled Doherty had “forcibly grabbed” her.
She said she was “continually looking over my shoulder” and had experienced moments of anxiety and panic. It had impacted on her day-to-day life and she felt violated, vulnerable and angry, the court was told.
She had thought about it incessantly and “I thought what might have happened if it was night-time or a more secluded area” and she said it had affected her ability to trust new people.
The court heard the man had not come to attention since and had abided by bail terms set down earlier. He had six prior convictions for motoring offences which resulted in fines and road bans, including two counts of attempting to drive while over the alcohol limit.
Defence solicitor Brian Keenan said he was instructed to convey his client’s sincerest apology and it had been “a moment of madness” and he cannot remember the incident because he had a lot of drink taken. He said Doherty had an alcohol addiction but has been attending counselling.
He said he had concerns for his client’s mental state and asked the judge to note that his client made admissions and entered an early guilty plea. He had been the victim of an assault in which he suffered a broken jaw and when he was called by gardaé to come to Pearse Street Garda station he thought it was in relation to that investigation.
Judge O’Shea revoked bail and remanded Doherty in custody to consider sentencing. He also said he wanted to view the CCTV footage of the incident.
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