A man has appeared before a sitting of Dublin District Court charged in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Dublin city centre.
Marius Lacatus, 32, a Romanian construction worker living in Dublin for the past three years, was charged with sexual assault and assault causing harm to the woman, also a foreign national, who was walking to work shortly after 6am yesterday morning.
Mr Lacatus, who has no fixed address, was granted €3,500 bail over garda objections when he appeared before Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court.
Garda Shane Dineen told the court the accused "made no reply" when charged.
The Store Street garda objected to bail due to the strength of evidence, flight risk and the seriousness of the case.
The garda said directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions were outstanding.
The garda accepted the man had no warrant history or prior convictions. The defence proposed he could reside with a friend in Dublin and obey stringent conditions.
The judge said bail was the default position and held that the garda had not established a flight risk to deny bail.
Judge Brennan said the accused had ties to the jurisdiction, and bail could be granted in his bond of €500 with a €3,000 independent surety.
He can only be released once the surety has been lodged.
On release, he would have to reside at a specific address provided to the court and be approved by gardaí, provide a contact telephone number, surrender his travel documents within 24 hours, and obey an 11pm-7am curfew.
Mr Lacatus did not address the court and has not indicated a plea.
Judge Brennan granted legal aid and remanded him in custody with consent to bail to appear again at Cloverhill District Court on 27 August, pending directions from the DPP.
