A man (39) accused of the rape of a young woman in Fermoy was refused bail in the Bandon District Court on Saturday because Gardai consider him a flight risk.
The man, who the court heard came to Ireland two years ago, has been charged with the rape of the 21-year old woman who was found hypothermic on derelict property in Cork on the night of November 18th.
Det Sgt Danny Holland of the Protective Services Unit said that when the woman was found at around 8am she was naked from the waist down and had scratches and cuts on her arms as if she had run through scrub and brambles.
“It was lucky she was found (when she was), I would have had serious concerns for her health and welfare”, he said.
The court also heard that, when questioned, the accused confirmed he had picked up the woman in Fermoy and that she had fallen asleep in the back seat.
He said he had tried to wake her and she appeared to be so drunk that he wondered if she had been drugged.
When questioned, he admitted that he had driven the car into a laneway where he got into the back seat, removed the young woman’s boots, pants and underwear and had sexual intercourse with her.
She then got out of the car and fled. The accused said that he threw her phone and her clothes out of the car and then drove home.
The young woman had attended a 21st birthday party and had become separated from her friends. At 2.30am, she called one of her friends and shouted for help but the call was cut off.
Five minutes, several of the young woman’s friends received a Snapchat message from her asking for help. They searched around Fermoy for their friend but couldn’t find her so at around 5am, they made contact with Gardaí.
By examining the Snapchat message Gardaí established that it had been sent while the young woman was in the Castlehyde area of Fermoy, and their search led them to the derelict building.
Using CCTV footage Gardai established that the young woman, who could be seen stumbling and intoxicated while trying to flag down cars in the town, had into the back seat of a vehicle.
Gardaí traced the car to the address of the accused and also established using CCTV that it had left Fermoy and driven to Castlehyde on the night of the rape.
A swab taken from the accused after he was arrested was found to be a DNA match with evidence taken from young woman at the South Infirmary Victoria.
Det Sgt Holland he believed the accused was a flight risk as he had moved to Ireland just two years ago and in that period, he had returned to his native country six times.
Judge Colm Roberts refused bail and remanded the man in custody to appear at Fermoy District Court on December 9th.