Man found guilty of sexually assaulting woman in Louth park
Last Friday, after the jury of seven men and five women returned the unanimous guilty verdicts following two hours of deliberation, Judge Dara Hayes remanded the defendant in custody for sentencing in February.
A 50-year-old man who denied sexually assaulting a woman in a park in County Louth and told gardaí she might have made the allegation to extort money from him, was convicted following a four day trial at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.
The defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons. had pleaded not guilty to two alleged sexual assaults in a park in Dundalk on August 1st 2025.
The complainant gave evidence that she had been walking her sister’s dog that day, and had let her off the leash in the park, when the dog ran over to a man who was sitting on the grass near an outdoor exercise bike.
She said she ran after her, as she didn’t know if the man “was good with dogs”.
The woman said he told her that he likes dogs and that he had a German Shepherd in his home country and had a Golden Retriever in Ireland and showed her photos on his phone.
She said she was half-sitting and half-kneeling while talking to him, and after about five minutes he “told me I was sexy”. The witness said that made her uneasy and she told him her sister was expecting her and she went to get up.
It was at this point, she claimed he grabbed her by the leg and pulled her down - trying to kiss her. She claimed he licked her leg and jumped up and got her in a bear hug from behind “I think he was trying to push me into the bushes” but she said while she kept on walking “He had me in a really good grasp”.
She said he either pushed her or she fell and claimed that the man had put his left hand under her top and squeezed her breasts hard and then inserted three fingers inside her “making a scraping movement” which she said “hurt a lot”
The woman said she was screaming for help and she believed a teenage boy who was across the park had spooked him “I think it startled him when he saw this other lad”.
She said the accused had tried to French kiss her and “ended up licking me” to the left side of her face, near her lips.
The witness told the jury that she doesn’t know how the defendant had her phone number, and denied that he had asked for it, or that she had given it to him.
The court heard the woman subsequently attended the sexual assault treatment unit in the Rotunda hospital and handed over her clothing to gardaí for forensic examination. She also attended the park that evening and pointed out where she said the assault took place, so it could be photographed as evidence.
During cross examination by Barra McGrory SC, the woman denied that “there was a bit of a hug” between the pair and she had taken his client’s hand and placed it under her clothing.
The woman replied “Are you serious?” and denied the barrister's assertion that there had been consensual sexual activity “but you started it” and that the defendant had resisted as “he was concerned there were people around”.
The woman at this point initially told the jury that the defendant was selling drugs, but during further questioning by Mr McGrory she admitted being a drug dealer herself and accepted that she had put her number into his client’s phone, but she said “I just sell drugs. I don’t take them”.
She later asked, “What has that got to do with me being sexually assaulted?”
When Mr McGrory put it to the witness that she didn’t tell the guards the man had her number, she replied “No.”
When she was asked why she didn’t tell the investigating garda she had a means of identifying the man, the witness replied “I couldn’t let her know”.
“That you were drug dealing?” asked Mr McGrory, to which the woman replied “Yes”.
When she was asked how she could forget giving the accused her phone number, which she had received a number of calls from, the woman said “Because of what happened to me”.
When questioned about receiving Whats App messages from the defendant, the woman said “The first one I blocked and I didn’t get any more”.
Mr McGrory asked if she didn’t tell the guards who were out looking ‘for this man’ that she knew who he was, because “You knew you hadn’t told the truth”, the woman replied “That’s bullshit. Sorry, that’s not true”.
She went on to say “At the time I was more worried about getting caught with drugs”.
During further cross examination, the witness said she was a crack cocaine user and at the time was a crack cocaine and heroin dealer.
She said was ‘very strict’ about taking drugs and was on a methadone treatment programme and claimed she had last used crack cocaine two days before the alleged incident.
The complainant said she used to make her own crack cocaine.
The witness insisted “It happened exactly like I said in my statement” and rejected Mr McGrory’s claim that “You lied to the guards. You’re lying to the jury”.
A witness from Forensic Science Ireland subsequently gave evidence of analysing the complainant's underwear and leggings.
The jury heard a DNA profile from inside the front of the underwear was 28,500 times more likely to come from the defendant rather than another unknown, unrelated person. A mixed DNA profile was also identified on the front lower left leg of the leggings which was 1,000 million times more likely to come from the accused and three males rather than four other males.
No saliva was detected on the woman's face and insufficient DNA was present on her shin to extract a profile.
During cross examination by Mr McGrory, the witness said that with fleeting or brief contact she would not expect a high level of DNA transfer.
The woman's sister told the court that when her sister returned from walking the dog she went straight into the kitchen and she had asked what was wrong as she "was shaking and she was pale".
She added her sister started crying and said she was attacked in the park. The witness said she called the gardaí and went over to the park to see if she could spot a man matching the description her sister had given.
When asked by the Defence counsel if the complainant had told her she had given the man her phone number, saved it under a false name and told her that the purpose was to see if she could sell him drugs, she replied "No".
The court heard three members of the local crime unit went to the park the evening after the assault was reported, where the defendant was found near the exercise equipment. He was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and was initially advised by an interpreter (by phone) at Dundalk Garda Station that he was going to be searched. His mobile phone and a red jumper were seized as evidence.
A doctor was called as there were concerns the defendant may have been intoxicated and the GP deemed him unfit to be interviewed due to alcohol and he was taken to hospital as his heart rate and blood pressure was too high. His period of detention was formally extended, and he was interviewed on August 4th.
He told gardaí that he had bought food after finishing work and went into the park which he said he likes to go to every day as he likes dogs. He said he was watching YouTube on his phone when a woman with a small dog approached. He said she rolled a cigarette and he spoke to her about her teeth, before "we touched and hugged and kissed each other".
He said her behaviour changed and she saved her number on his phone. The accused claimed she put his hands under her clothes but "I told her other people were there and I left". He said he called her the next day to tell her "not to contact me as I was embarrassed".
The defendant said when the three gardaí approached him in the park, he thought they were Immigration as they weren't in uniform. He said "When she shook hands I thought I had a new friend" and claimed the woman had forcefully taken his hand and put it under her t-shirt and inside her panties but he said "I snatached my hand away and left".
He denied licking the woman and said he spat on her face "When she said f**k you, b*****d" as he left.
When he was told the woman had claimed she had shouted for help, he replied "It never happened" and suggested she might have made the allegation to extort money from him.
The jury heard that on the day of the assault, several calls were made to the woman's number - the first was at 5.39pm but it did not appear to have connected. At 7.40pm another call was made which lasted six seconds. Further calls were made at 8.24pm and 8.50pm.
The next day he sent a number of messages to her. The first at 5.37pm said "Hi Dear, where are you now". Forty minutes later another said "Please reply dear". The same message was sent at 6.50pm and at 6.58, he texted "Dear please reply".
When pressed by the Defence barrister, if she had followed up on his client's "different version of events" including how he came to have her phone number, the investigating garda said she had asked the complainant if she had given the accused her number "and she said she didn't". She replied "No I didn't" when Mr McGrory asked if she had made a note of that.
The garda said the woman had told her she had got a new phone and a new number because her ex partner was ringing her and "she was getting unwanted calls".
During further cross examination on the issue, the witness said "I asked her repeatedly ,how did she think her number was in his phone and she didn't have an explanation".
The court heard the woman had suggested he had got her number off Facebook and had told gardaí that she had since changed her account "to a private setting".
The garda added that there would be a lengthy process involved in pursuing the matter with the social media platform "involving Interpol and the US authorities.
The Defendant did not give evidence, after the Prosecution closed its case.
Last Friday, after the jury of seven men and five women returned the unanimous guilty verdicts following two hours of deliberation, Judge Dara Hayes remanded the defendant in custody for sentencing in February.