Gardaí have been unable to speak to a 10-year-old girl, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in west Dublin last month, “due to medical advice”, a court has heard.
The accused, aged 26, who cannot be identified due to the nature of the charge, faced his third hearing this morning when he appeared via video link before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court.
He is accused of sexual assault of a female at Garter Lane in Saggart on October 20th, 2025, after the girl went missing from care.
To date, he has not applied for bail and appeared via video link after the courtroom was cleared for the in camera proceedings.
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Gda Sgt Sinead Connolly said the Director of Public Prosecutions’s (DPPs) directions were not yet available, adding: “We haven’t yet spoken to the complainant due to medical advice”.
“She is in a secure facility – due to medical advice, we can’t speak to her,” she also said.
The court was also told the child has settled in well into her new accommodation.
The investigation file is at a very advanced stage, the judge heard.
Two weeks ago, the judge had ordered a fitness to be tried report on the accused.
The defence solicitor told the court his client was on a waiting list for the Central Mental Hospital, but no report was yet to hand.
He added his client would not be making a bail application at this stage.
The judge told him to inform his client the court was asking that medical doctors see him in prison.
He was remanded in custody to appear again at the same court on November 19th for the DPP’s directions and a fitness to be tried report.
The defence must give gardaí 48 hours’ notice if they intend to move a bail application.
At his first hearing on October 21st, Gda Sgt Connolly said the man replied: “I have nothing to say” after he was charged.
The case triggered violent scenes in Citywest, Dublin, in the following days, resulting in more than 30 arrests.
