Armagh All-Ireland winner Aidan Nugent was on Tuesday ordered to stand trial in the crown court, facing eight charges of sexual assault.
Appearing in the dock of Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, the 31-year-old confirmed he was aware of the charges against him, all of them alleged to have been committed in the US on November 17th, 2024.
Mr Nugent, from the Cullyhanna Road in Newtownhamilton, faces seven charges of sexual assault and one of sexual assault involving penetration, alleged to have been committed against a single complainant.
It is understood to be the crown’s case the offences were committed when the Armagh GAA team travelled to Miami in Florida. They were celebrating Armagh’s first All-Ireland title in 22 years after beating Galway at Croke Park July.
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Mr Nugent’s defence solicitor Patrick Higgins has emphasised that during formal police interviews, the defendant claimed that “any sexual activity was consensual”.
Mr Higgins has also said that when Mr Nugent was charged with the offences he replied: “I deny the allegations - it was consensual”.
During a brief preliminary inquiry court on Tuesday , the legal step necessary for any case to be returned to the crown court, a prosecuting lawyer submitted there is a prima facie case against Mr Nugent.
Mr Higgins conceded the point but declared that Mr Nugent “strenuously denies the allegations.”
The court clerk told Mr Nugent he had the right to comment on the charges or to call evidence on his own behalf, but he declined.
Returning the case to Newry Crown Court, district judge Anne Marshall freed Mr Nugent on £500 (€575) bail and ordered him to appear for his arraignment on October 2nd.
Applying for legal aid to be extended to allow a senior barrister to be instructed, Mr Higgins told the judge that was on the basis that one of the charges carried a potential sentence of life imprisonment.
He also contended that “all of the people involved in this are in the public eye” and that if Mr Nugent is convicted, there is not only a risk to his reputation “but also a risk to his liberty and livelihood.”
Judge Marshall told the solicitor she would rule on his application later on Tuesday.
