Teenage twin sisters were stabbed with a broken glass bottle after rejecting “prolonged” advances from a man on Dublin’s Dame Street early on Saturday morning, a court has heard.

Shando Alfa, a 27-year-old Somali national of no fixed abode, was refused bail on Monday.

He is charged with assault causing harm to both young women, aged 18, who had been socialising in the city centre, and also to a male passerby who attempted to assist them during the incident.

At Dublin District Court, Judge Ciaran Liddy noted the objections made by investigating Garda Colm Carroll, who described it as a “violent, vicious and unprovoked attack” which led to serious injuries.

Alfa “made no comment” after gardaí charged him at Pearse Street Garda station.

The alleged offences are under section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. On conviction, they are punishable by a maximum 10-year sentence.

Details emerged during a bail hearing where Carroll said that shortly before 2.30am on Saturday, the sisters attempted to cross Dame Street.

There, they were met by a man, subsequently identified as Alfa, whom they did not know. It was alleged that the accused began “pestering” them and made “unwanted advances” which were rejected.

The twins made their way to a bus stop while the accused allegedly continued making advances.

“Both females repeatedly requested this male to leave them alone. He refused to,” Carroll told the court.

The court heard that a passerby, a man unknown to the sisters, intervened and asked the accused to leave them alone.

Carroll said this culminated in the accused launching an unprovoked assault with a broken glass bottle.

The judge was told the accused was said to have struck the man with the bottle and stabbed him in the head. One of the twins then tried to intervene, and both she and her sister were attacked.

The court heard one of the women was grabbed by her head, pulled down and punched in the face, and suffered a deep laceration to her hand. Her sister was struck on the head, resulting in a cut.

It was alleged that the accused then fled the scene.

The sisters were taken by ambulance to Tallaght University Hospital. One had two deep lacerations to the top of her head that needed staples, and she suffered bruising under her eye.

The second also had a deep cut to her hand that needed stitches. The court heard she will need surgery.

The injured passerby required stitches at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, where medical staff removed glass from his wound.

The judge was informed that there was excellent quality CCTV footage before, during, and after the incident.

Carroll further stated there was a camera phone recording with audio of the young women “pleading” with the man to leave them alone before the assault.

The garda maintained the accused was in the video evidence holding the broken bottle and swinging it in a stabbing motion. He also said the accused made no effort to conceal his identity.

The court heard that on arrest, the accused still had the broken bottle.

During his interview, he made no comment to questions.

The two young women gave statements and vivid descriptions of the assault, which the court heard.

The man who was attacked wishes to co-operate in the investigation, but has yet to provide a statement because he was still receiving treatment.

The accused first became known to be in the country in February 2025. However, there was no record of his port of entry, the court was told.

Because he had no family in or ties to the country, the garda had significant flight risk concerns, and he added that additional charges could be brought.

The garda believed the accused showed a clear propensity to violence, and he had grave concerns if he were released on bail.

Defence solicitor Kate McGhee argued that the accused, who previously lived in Co Wicklow, could be released on bail subject to various conditions if he provided an address.

The judge denied bail.

Alfa, who did not address the court, was granted legal aid and remanded in custody pending directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. He is scheduled to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday.