A 27-year-old man has been charged in connection with an incident where a woman in her 50s was attacked and sexually assaulted while out walking her dog in Fermoy in North Cork at the weekend.
Vadim Veste, a Moldovan national with an address at Clancy Street in Fermoy, was brought before a special sitting of Fermoy District Court on Thursday morning and charged in connection with the incident.
Mr Veste was charged with two offences at St Colman’s Park, Fermoy on November 7th — assault causing harm and sexual assault of the woman.
Det Garda David Barry of Fermoy Garda Station gave evidence of the arrest charge and caution and told the court that Mr Vestemade no reply to either charge when they were put to him after caution.
He said gardaí were objecting to bail due to the seriousness of the charge and the fact that both offences carried five year terms upon conviction and the strength of the evidence against Mr Veste.
Det Garda Barry gave an outline of the alleged facts in which he stated that the injured party was out walking her dog when a male assailant came up behind her in a dark and unlit section of the park and pulled her to ground from behind, covering her mouth with his hand to stop her crying for help.
He said the State would allege the assailant then knelt on top of the woman as she lay on the ground and stuffed a woolly hat into her mouth to stop her shouting, injuring her gums while he put his other hand up under dress.
He said that the state would allege that the woman managed to scratch the man on the neck, face and hands before he fled when two other walkers heard her screams for help and gardaí later obtained DNA samples from under the woman’s nails which matched Mr Veste’s DNA profile.
He said gardaí had also taken witness statements from others who had seen him in the park area prior to the incident and when he was interviewed following his arrest, he made admissions that he had attacked the woman and his account of what happened tallied with her statement to gardaí.
Det Garda Barry further alleged gardaí feared that Mr Veste, if granted bail, would interfere with witnesses including the injured party.
And he also alleged that Mr Veste, who came to Ireland in December 2020, has no ties with the country and has a wife and family back home in Moldova and he feared that he would abscond and not stand trial if granted bail.
Cross-examined by Mr Veste’s solicitor, Daithi O Donnabhain, Det Garda Barry said that there were no bail conditions such as surrendering his passport and signing on daily at Fermoy Garda Station that would satisfy gardaí as they feared that he would interfere with witnesses if granted bail.
Judge Alex Gabbett said that after hearing garda objections and noting the strength of the evidence against Mr Veste and the garda fear that he would interfere with witnesses if granted bail, he was refusing bail to Mr Veste who is working in a local meat factory.
Insp Tony Sullivan said that gardaí were seeking a remand in custody for a week for the DPP’s directions and Judge Gabbett remanded Mr Veste in custody to appear at Cork District Court by video link on November 18th.
