Taxi driver appears in Dublin court on rape charge

Court heard the alleged offences occurred on 9 December 2018

A taxi driver has been charged with raping a woman in his car in Dublin.

The 35-year-old man was arrested at his home in Dublin earlier today.

He was charged with two counts of rape and two other charges of sexual assault of the woman, who was in her 20s, at Emmet Street, in Dublin's north inner city, in the early hours of 9 December 2018.

He was brought before Judge John O'Leary at Dublin District Court, where bail was set at €6,000 with a requirement to abide by strict conditions, including a ban on driving a taxi.

The accused denies the charges, his solicitor said.

Detective Sergeant Jonathan Kelly told the court the accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had nothing to say when he was charged at Irishtown Garda Station.

He objected to bail on the grounds of "flight risk due to the seriousness of the charges".

Detective Sergeant Kelly said the accused was a foreign national but agreed with defence solicitor Stephen O'Mahony that the man also had an Irish passport.

He accepted the accused had lived in Ireland for more than a decade and there was no issue about his address or identity. He also had relatives in Ireland.

Detective Sergeant Kelly said the man had a network of relations in the UK and in the country of his birth. "The issue is that he would have a support network," he said.

He also said the accused left the country after the alleged incident and a public appeal for information but he subsequently returned.

His arrest followed a garda appeal for information described as "a high profile media campaign", which also involved a feature on RTÉ's Crimecall.

Mr O'Mahony said his client returned and had been interviewed in January and "maintained a narrative of not guilty and is denying the charges".

He also said his client had surrendered his passports and would obey strict conditions.

Judge O'Leary granted bail in the sum of €6,000 and ordered the accused to obey a 10pm to 6am curfew, to reside at his current address, "refrain from driving a taxi", and to sign-on daily at his local garda station.

The judge also ordered him to stay away from the complainant and to remain out of parts of Dublin. 

He was remanded in custody with consent to bail and will appear before Cloverhill District Court on Thursday.