A man has been charged with a brutal sex attack on a Swedish au pair while she was in a wood with her Irish boyfriend.
The 19-year-old man was remanded in custody at Kilkenny Court yesterday after gardai objected to bail.
He is accused of falsely imprisoning the courting couple and of committing an aggravated sexual assault on the woman, in her early 20s, at Aughtanny Wood, Castle inch, near Kilkenny city, on June 27th, 1999.
He is also charged with assaulting the girl's Kilkenny boyfriend, a farmer in his mid-20s, causing him harm and robbing his mobile phone, sunglasses and £250 in cash.
Supt Pat Hogan objected to bail as the man had no permanent address. The first opportunity to arrest him came last Wednesday, when he was found living in a car in a Co Waterford town. He initially gave a false name. Judge Leo Malone refused bail and remanded him in custody until next Tuesday.