A 24-year-old west Dublin man was in Mountjoy Prison last night after being charged with the rape and sexual assault of two young girls in the Clondalkin area in the past three months.
The man, who was arrested by gardai on Thursday and questioned by detectives at Clondalkin station, was charged with the false imprisonment and rape of a 12-year-old girl on March 16th and the false imprisonment and sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl on January 12th.
Both attacks were in daylight. The girls were waylaid and dragged into alleyways.
The 12-year-old was abducted as she was walking along Lealand Drive to school in Clondalkin at about 8.30 a.m. A bag was put over her head before she was raped. The other child was abducted in Lealand Grove at about 4 p.m.
Judge William Hamill refused an application by the man's solicitor to have him released on bail.
His solicitor told the court she had some concern about her client's "mental state" and asked that he be assessed at Mountjoy. "Perhaps another place of detention would be suitable," she told the court.
The man, dressed in slacks, a blue shirt and coloured tie, with shoulder-length hair, told the court he was in employment and when asked by Judge Hamill how much he earned he replied "£160". The judged granted him free legal aid.
The man's parents and another middle-aged woman were the only people in the public gallery for yesterday's brief hearing.
The arresting officer, Det Sgt Tony Hughes, of Clondalkin station, said he would object strongly to the man being released on bail because of the seriousness of the charge, the likelihood of a sentence on conviction and the fact that the accused had made arrangements to leave the country before he was arrested.
He told the court that when charged in Clondalkin Garda station on Thursday night the accused made no reply.
Judge Hamill remanded the man in custody to appear again on April 7th at Kilmainham Court.