LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar

A MAN HAS appeared in court charged with sexually assaulting a young girl in north Dublin last month.

The accused (27), who cannot be named as the alleged offence relates to a minor, appeared before Judge Michele Finan at the Criminal Courts of Justice at around 1pm this afternoon. He was wearing a grey half-zip top and a black t-shirt.

He is charged with one count of sexually assaulting the girl in north Dublin on 15 February 2026. 

The charge is contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990, as amended by Section 37 of the Sex Offenders Act 2001.

The man denies the charge. 

The court heard that the man is a Brazilian national who came to Ireland around two years ago. He does not have legal status here and had been working for Deliveroo, but was let go two weeks ago. He has no previous convictions.

Garda Gráinne Raggett gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in court. 

She told the court that the man was arrested at 7.25am yesterday morning and subsequently charged by Garda Sergeant Gavin Redmond. He made no reply to the charge.

She told the court that the young girl in question gave evidence to gardaí following the incident.

The court heard that the girl alleged that she saw the man in a laneway near her home. She alleged that he got off his bike and spoke to her, asking if he “could do something”, before he pulled down her trousers and touched her hips and the area below her belly button.

The man then took a phone call, “told her he was done” and left on his bike, Raggett said.

She said the young girl described the man as wearing a blue Deliveroo jacket and having a Deliveroo bag on his back. She said the child also recalled the bike to gardaí and could tell it was an electric bike because he did not always pedal it.

Raggett told the court that the accused is also suspected to have approached children on two other occasions last month. During one of the incidents, a man tried to grab a girl’s hand, but she screamed and ran off, the court heard.

Raggett said gardaí asked Deliveroo for information relating to drivers who were in the area and received dates and timestamps. GPS phone data put the accused in the vicinity on the three dates in question. 

Gardaí searched his home after he was arrested. They seized a Deliveroo jacket and bag, black trousers, a black raincoat and a mobile phone. A passport and a Portguese driving licence were also seized.

Raggett objected to bail due to the seriousness of the alleged offence.

She told the court that the accused may also be a flight risk. “I believe he will evade justice by not appearing for trial,” she said. 

Ciara Murray BL made an application for bail on behalf of the accused. 

She said gardaí had gathered a “significant amount” of CCTV which showed the accused in the area “making deliveries”.

Under cross-examination, Garda Raggett agreed that she did not have CCTV of the accused with the child in question. She also agreed that the accused was cooperative when being interviewed by gardaí. 

She said the man “freely admitted” an “innocent encounter” with the child in question. The court heard the man had said he interacted with the young girl and her friend and in the laneway and asked if he could pass by, when he may have brushed off her but did not touch her.

Murray said the accused denies sexually assaulting the young girl. She said he has been “very clear that he did not do what he is alleged to have done”.

She said he had never previously come to the attention of gardaí in the two years that he has lived and worked in Ireland, that he has stable address, and that there is “nothing in his history” to suggest that he would attempt to evade the court process. 

Judge Finan said she had listened “very carefully” to both sides. She said she found that Raggett had made a “very comprehensive and cogent” objection to bail.

She refused bail and remanded the accused in custody to Cloverhill Prison.

He will appear before the court again on 18 March.