A man in his 20s has been sent forth for trial at the Circuit Court in Dublin after a female student sustained “brutal injuries” after being the victim of an alleged rape in Letterkenny, Donegal last October.
The man – who is not being named – appeared before a sitting of Letterkenny Circuit Court via video link and with the aid of an Arabic interpreter, Donegal Live reported.
As Gript previously reported, the alleged assault took place in the early hours of Sunday the 20th of October where the victim was found to have sustained “horrendous” and “brutal” injuries, it was reported last year.
The man – who is in his 20s – cannot be named in order to protect the anonymity of the alleged victim.
A previous sitting of Letterkenny District Court heard evidence from Detective Garda Lorna Doherty that the woman suffered a “violent sexual assault and rape”.
The man – to whom the alleged victim is unknown – was charged with one count of the rape contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act, 1990.
He is also charged with an offence is contrary to section 3A (1) (a) and 3 (3) of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 (as inserted by section 21 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023) that he did intentionally or recklessly strangle the woman during the alleged assault.
The alleged attack took place in the early hours of the 20th of October with the zip from the victims trousers being located at the scene, just off Lower Main Street.
Gardaí conducted door to door enquiries with locals telling them that they had heard screaming around the time of the alleged assault.
A discovery of heavily blood stained clothing was found in the accused man’s home after Gardaí swooped on the address.
The man was refused bail after Gardaí argued that there was a chance he would attempt to avoid justice.
During a previous sitting of the court the accused’s legal representative, Mr Mark Durning of Patrick J Sweeney Solicitors, had unsuccessfully applied for bail arguing that the matter before the court “hinges on consent”.
This was opposed by Garda Sergeant Michael McHugh who argued that the case contained an aggravating factor of violence and that , “The injured party suffered such brutal injuries.”
“The issue of consent is compounded by such horrendous injuries,” he said.