Health and safety officer groped woman on street

‘Moment of madness’

A HEALTH and safety officer who put his hand up a woman’s skirt and groped her in Dublin’s Temple Bar was identified from pictures taken by his victim after the attack, a court has heard.

Bryan Doherty, 36, was remanded in custody yesterday after he admitted sexually assaulting the woman in Cope Street on June 22 last year.

Following an application by the media, Judge Brian O’Shea lifted reporting instructions which had prevented Doherty from being named.

He was remanded in custody yesterday by Judge O’Shea after he pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to sexual assault.

Detective Garda Brendan Nolan told the court the woman was walking home from work wearing her headphones when she was approached from behind by a male who was not known to her.

She told gardaí the man ‘reached under her skirt and grabbed inside her underwear, beside her vagina or beside her vagina area’.

The officer said she turned around in fright and ‘this male proceeded to walk past her’. He said the injured party ‘followed the male’ and managed to take photographs of him.

A print-out of one of the photos was handed to the judge who said it was clearly and undeniably the accused.

Judge O’Shea heard that Doherty, from Co. Mayo but with an address at Ashinghton Close, Navan Road, Dublin, was later identified from the photos by a previous employer who assisted gardaí. Detectives also obtained video evidence from the area and the footage captured the entire incident, the court was told.

The young woman was present for the hearing but was not required to give evidence.

However, she had provided the court with a victim-impact statement in which Judge O’Shea noted she recalled Doherty had ‘forcibly grabbed’ her.

After the attack, the victim said she was ‘continually’ looking over her shoulder and had experienced moments of anxiety and panic.

It had impacted on her day-today life and she felt violated, vulnerable and angry, the court was told.

The statement detailed how the woman had thought about the attack incessantly and said it had affected her ability to trust new people.

She said: ‘I thought what might have happened if it was night-time or a more secluded area.’

It was noted that Doherty had not come to Garda attention since and had abided by bail terms set down earlier.

The court heard he had six prior convictions for motoring offences which resulted in fines and road bans, including two counts of attempting to drive while over the alcohol limit.

Defence solicitor Brian Keenan said he was instructed to convey his client’s sincerest apology.

He added that Doherty described the attack as ‘a moment of mad- ness’ and said he cannot remember the incident because he had consumed a lot of alcohol.

He added that his client has an alcohol addiction but has been attending counselling.

Mr Keenan said he had concerns for his client’s mental state and asked the judge to note that he had made admissions and entered an early guilty plea.

The court was told Doherty had been the victim of an assault in which he suffered a broken jaw, and that when he was called by gardaí to come to Pearse Street Garda Station, he thought it was in relation to that investigation.

Judge O’Shea revoked bail and remanded Doherty in custody to consider sentencing.

He also said he wanted to view the CCTV footage of the incident. The case resumes next week.