GARDAÍ HAVE DEPORTED a convicted sex offender to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chico Makamda was serving a custodial sentence in the Midlands Prison for failing to notify a change in his details, as is required by the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

He has 19 previous convictions for sex offences, false imprisonment and theft in Ireland.

The 39-year-old was sentenced in 2019 to seven and a half years with the final two and a half years suspended on condition that he leave the country upon his release.

The court heard that he had trapped a woman behind a bin and attacked her before beginning to masturbate in front of her.

Makamda, who had been living in Ireland since 2009, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, false imprisonment and robbery.

After his release in January 2022, Makamda failed to leave the country and has since accrued two convictions for failing to notify gardaí of his address as required for registration under the Sex Offenders Act.

He was jailed for another two years, with the condition that he would leave the country within 14 days of his release.

In a statement today, gardaí said Makamda’s criminal record made his deportation a “priority operation” for the National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

“This is the first removal by An Garda Síochána to Democratic Republic of Congo and comes after a significant amount of engagement between officials from Democratic Republic of Congo and GNIB, which facilitated obtaining travel documents, visas and the coordination of escort arrangements.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Aidan Minnock, Head of the GNIB, said of the deportation: “This is an example of how the Irish rules based immigration system works to ensure high risk persons are prioritised, and effective action taken to ensure the people of Ireland are kept safe from recidivist offenders.

“Work like this is ongoing ever day to ensure Ireland is a safe place to live.”

After Makamda was released from prison in 2022, the GNIB had attempted to make several appointments with him to assist him in leaving the country, but the information he gave them was incorrect and they did not know his nationality.

He had stated he was Angolan but the Angolan embassy said that was not correct.

With reporting by Fiona Ferguson