A man, who is believed to be from Sudan, has appeared before Dublin District Court for the second time and has remained completely unresponsive, as with the previous hearing.
The man, who has not spoken since he was arrested on the 17th of September last after members of the public alerted Gardaí to his being asleep with no shoes or socks on Poplar Road, Dublin.
An interpreter was present in court today, but was unsuccessful in communicating with the man who remained in a catatonic state for the hearing after the matter was let stand in order to allow her to speak with him.
The interpreter said that the man “looks Sudanese”, although it remains unclear where he comes from.
Judge Michele Finan expressed that the man may not previously have come into contact with an interpreter that speaks “his dialect”, although it was unclear what language he does speak.
At a previous hearing, arresting Garda Jennifer Hyland said that he “hasn’t opened his mouth” since he was arrested, but that a member of the public reported then they asked him if he would like a coffee he replied, “No”.
Hyland told the court that she tried to communicate with the man for “30 minutes” but that he “literally would not answer” her and was just “looking” at her.
She said that the sergeant at the station “tried his best” to communicate with the man to no avail.
Judge Finan said, “This is a very unusual situation” before asking Garda Hyland what her application was.
Hyland replied that she was objecting to bail in respect of the accused, saying, “I don’t know who he is”.
At today’s hearing, the man’s counsel Ms. Connolly successfully applied for bail in respect of the accused who was remanded in custody with consent to bail when he did not speak to acknowledge his bail bond.
Judge Finan ordered further psychiatric analysis of the man, directing that his fitness to plead be assessed.
The matter was adjourned for two weeks from today’s date.