Man remanded in custody accused of causing fear to 'terrified' female jogger in the Midlands

A female jogger told a court she was  “terrified” when approached by a man in Mountmellick last month. 

Patrick  Horan (40) of Graigue, Mountmellick appeared in court on Monday accused of causing “serious alarm or distress” to the female jogger and putting her in fear at Eyne, Mountmellick on April 26, 2024. 

The defendant appeared before a sitting of Portlaoise District Court where Garda Trevor Darcy objected to bail.

Garda Darcy said he was objecting to bail due to the serious nature of the charge. He said the woman was jogging when a car passed and later pulled in on the road ahead.  The man appeared to be searching for something and when the woman came near, he crossed the road and approached her with his arms outstretched.  

He said the defendant was later identified from a description of him and  his car. He said the man was arrested and his car and exhibits were seized by gardaí on Sunday, May 12. During interviews, the man placed himself at the scene but his account of events differed to those of the alleged injured party, said Garda Darcy.

Solicitor Barry Fitzgerald said his client doesn’t know the jogger. He said there is  a big backlog of cases for trial and his client “could be in custody for upwards of 18 months awaiting trial” if denied bail.  He said the man was entitled to the presumption of innocence. 

The jogger took to stand and said she was running her regular route that day having left her home at 6.12pm. 

Around halfway through her regular run she became aware of a car approaching on a straight stretch of road with no centre markings. The woman said “the car drove too close to me” and she recalled shaking her head. 

“When I turned the bend I saw the car pulled in in a bizarre location,” she said. 

“ A red flag probably came up for me straight away,” she told the court sitting. 

She thought the driver was going to give out to her for jogging on the road or shaking her head as he passed. 

Then she noticed the driver appeared to be looking for something in the car and then he got out and appeared, in her view, to be pretending to look for something under the driver’s side of the car.

She slowed her pace but as she got closer the man crossed the road with his arms up and out. She likened it to the “position when you would give your friends a big bear hug.” 

“I shouted stop, I think it was more of a plea,” she said. 

“I took two or three steps back. I shouted stop. I said please get back into your car, please leave me alone,” she recalled.  

The woman said the man didn’t stop and her “legs went to jelly” but the man “made another move towards me with his arms up and out” and she “sprinted as fast as I could in the opposite direction”. 

She reached a house with electric gates and tried to call and at this point said: “I became terrified that he would spin his car around and try to knock me down.”

She knocked on the doors of a further two houses before anyone answered. She explained what happened and rang the gardaí. 

Mr Fitzgerald said while on the face of it the charge appeared to be serious, “it is murky in relation to what happened.” 

He said his client was entitled to bail and can adhere to any conditions the court sees fit to apply. 

Garda Sgt JJ Kirby said “when you delve into the details it is very worrying.” 

He said the court could “dress it up any way you want” but at the end of the day it was about an alleged “attempted abduction” and the court has to protect the women of Laois and Ireland.

“She ran for her life,” added Sgt Kirby. 

“It is one of the most serious cases I have come across allegedly,” he said. 

Judge Nicola Andrews said the defendant enjoys the presumption of innocence. However, she said due to the seriousness of the offence she believed bail should be refused. 

“I am also concerned about the personal safety of the members of the community,” Judge Andrews said. 

She remanded the defendant in custody to reappear by video link next Monday, May 20. 

She granted legal aid and directed a psychiatric evaluation for the accused in custody.