A young man who “converted” his student visa to a work permit has been charged with raping a female colleague in Dublin.
The accused (20s), who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared at Dublin District Court on Wednesday when his bail was set at €10,000.
Det Gda Brenda Scanlon told Judge Cephas Power the accused “made no reply” when charged with two counts of rape, which allegedly occurred over two successive dates earlier this month.
Det Scanlon objected to bail due to the defendant’s lack of ties to this jurisdiction. She stressed that the man, a foreign national, had no family in Ireland and described him as “a flight risk”.
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She alleged he came to Ireland on a student visa but had not attended college and was not enrolled in the latest academic year.
The court heard gardaí were aware of his address and that he had no convictions or history of bench warrants.
Defence solicitor Peter Connolly said his client denies the allegation.
Mr Connolly said the accused lived in Ireland legally, had handed over his passport to gardaí, had his phone seized and had about €2,600 in his bank account. The solicitor said the man would sign on regularly at a Garda station and obey any other conditions.
He said his presumed innocent client could face two years of pre-trial incarceration if denied bail.
The defence solicitor acknowledged his client came from a country with no extradition treaty with Ireland, but he contended extradition would be possible in extremely serious cases.
Judge Power noted the accused had converted his student visa to a work visa, which explained why he had not signed up for his course.
He acknowledged the detective’s comment that the accused was a flight risk but added, however, that he has the presumption of innocence.
He set bail but required approval of a €10,000 independent surety.
On taking up bail, the man must sign on daily at a Garda station, provide a new phone number to gardaí, notify of an address change and surrender his passport.
Legal aid was granted to the accused, who was remanded in custody with consent to bail. He will appear in court again next week.
