A married man accused of attacking his former lover in his car in Dublin for three hours after she ended their relationship sent “intimate images and videos” of her to her employer, a court has heard.
The accused, who is in his late 40s and from Eastern Europe, is not being named to protect the complainant’s identity.
He was charged with assault causing harm and robbery of the woman on 29 January and was denied bail by Judge Gerard Jones at Dublin District Court. He has yet to enter a plea.
Garda Andrew Burlingham alleged the man left Ireland shortly after the alleged incident and returned to his home country.
However, he was arrested when he re-entered the State.
Objecting to bail, Garda Burlingham alleged that the man stole her phone after she got into his car and “shared intimate images from her device to his device”.
The court heard claims that he drove around for three hours, occasionally stopping to assault her in the back seat with slaps, before she was eventually released with visible injuries.
It was alleged that a week later, “he shared intimate images and videos to the injured party’s employer”.
The investigating officer anticipated that the case would be dealt with at a higher level, with wider sentencing options.
An additional charge could also be brought.
The woman was afraid, and the garda was concerned she may be approached to drop the criminal complaint.
They had been in a relationship, but it had ended.
The garda also said the accused had no ties to the State and had a wife and child in his home country.
The man’s solicitor, Mary Lavelle, said her client had lived in Ireland for several years and worked in construction.
She submitted that he had not fled and had been back and forth several times since the date of the alleged offence.
The solicitor also said her client had a job here, but the garda said he had yet to be shown any details about his work.
During the contested bail hearing, the complainant testified, telling the court, “I’m afraid even to go to work, even leaving my house.”
She told the court that on the day of the incident, the accused had wanted to speak to her about “a chance to get back together, and he said he had a bottle of diesel that he would set on fire”.
She accused him of taking her bag and added that she has since taken out a protection order, which had not been breached.
The defence solicitor pleaded that he should be admitted to bail with strict conditions, given that he had the presumption of innocence, an address, and no prior criminal convictions.
However, Judge Jones denied bail and remanded him in custody pending directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. He will appear again on Friday.
Legal aid was granted.
