A man detained in Belfast following an international police hunt was allegedly convicted of rape in Dublin under a different name, the High Court in Belfast heard today.
Prosecutors claimed Teklemariam Lijam (42) used separate identities in a bid to mislead the authorities about his criminal past.
The Eritrean national, of no fixed abode, faces new charges of failing to register as a sex offender, providing false information to police, and perverting the course of justice.
Refusing bail, chief justice of Northern Ireland Siobhan Keegan ruled there were no conditions under which he could be safely released.
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The court heard Lijam was arrested in March this year after Interpol requested help from the PSNI to establish the whereabouts of a high-risk sex offender using the name Bereket Mekonnen.
Mekonnen was wanted for not notifying Irish authorities about a change of address after serving a jail sentence imposed in 2007 for a rape offence.
Fingerprints held on record for him matched those of Lijam, Crown counsel disclosed.
She said the defendant arrived in the United Kingdom in 2024 but was later prosecuted for a separate exposure offence.
“Police believe his name and date of birth is false, and that he is in fact the individual convicted of rape in Dublin,” the barrister submitted.
“He deliberately did not provide the name used in the south of Ireland in order to mislead the courts [here].”
During interviews, Lijam did not deny that the individual in a photograph accompanying a newspaper article from the earlier case was him, but could not confirm the content was correct because it was not in his language.
With Home Office checks still being carried out to establish his correct details, the court heard a European Arrest Warrant is also being prepared in the Republic of Ireland.
Opposing bail, counsel added: “He goes by two different identities, and police have reasonable grounds to doubt whether or not he has furnished his real name.”
Kelly Doherty, defending, disputed claims her client had perverted the course of justice and could flee from the jurisdiction, citing his refugee status in the UK.
“He fled Eritrea to avoid military service and if he were to return his life would be in danger,” she said.
Bail was denied, however, based on concerns Lijam could reoffend or abscond.
