A homeless man, who had been staying in emergency accommodation at a hotel in Limerick, has been remanded in custody after he was charged with assaulting a member of staff at the hotel.
John Ughamadu (25), who has an address at O'Connell Avenue, Limerick appeared before Limerick District Court yesterday accused of assaulting a porter at the Quality Hotel, Roxboro on Sunday afternoon.
The Nigerian national also faces a charge under Section 6 of the Public Order Act.
Insp Séamus Nolan told Judge Tom O'Donnell that further charges may be brought against the accused in relation to Sunday's incident.
Solicitor Ted McCarthy, for Mr Ughamadu, said last Friday the High Court had ruled that the continuing detention of his client at Roxboro Garda station, in relation to separate matters, was unlawful.
Previously Mr Ughamadu had been remanded to the Central Mental Hospital in Dublin but was refused access due to a lack of beds at the facility. He had initially been charged with public order offences arising from his allegedly trying to sleep in a crib in a church.
Following an application made to the High Court, Mr Justice John Edwards ordered that Mr Ughamadu should be released from Roxboro Garda station as soon as emergency accommodation was arranged for him by the housing services in Limerick.
"The emergency housing officer had arranged for him to stay at the Quality Hotel until Wednesday and while he was staying there at the weekend difficulties arose and he was evicted for causing disruption to other guests and staff. When he sought to get back in, difficulties arose with a porter, which led to a complaint of assault being made," said Insp Nolan.
In remanding the accused in custody until tomorrow afternoon, Judge O'Donnell said: "I have read a lot of the discussion about this situation but I am only interested in trying to progress the man's case."
He directed that the director of the Central Mental Hospital, Prof Harry Kennedy, should attend tomorrow's court appearance as he recently carried out a preliminary assessment of Mr Ughamadu. The judge also directed that a representative of the mental health services in Limerick should also attend.
"Let's see if we can deal with this person in the most human way possible," he told the court.
Judge O'Donnell remanded Mr Ughamadu to Limerick Prison until tomorrow's hearing.