Judge David Waters denied bail, citing the \u201crandom nature\u201d of the alleged attack on a stranger and testimony that Mr Ahsan allegedly approached another woman earlier that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t believe there are any conditions that could address these concerns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Muhammed Ahsan (22) was accused of false imprisonment at Clieveragh, Listowel between 3 and 3.15am.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahsan is further charged with endangerment where it is alleged that he was driving onto a main road with his passenger front door open while the woman\u2019s legs were out of the vehicle, causing a substantial risk of death or serious harm.<\/p>\n
He was also charged with dangerous driving and theft of a mobile phone valued at \u20ac550.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahsan entered Listowel Courthouse in a grey sweatsuit, covering his head with a small red shirt. An Urdu interpreter was present.<\/p>\n
Proceedings began with the defendant\u2019s solicitor, Brendan Ahern, requesting media restrictions be imposed for the safety of his wife and two young children.<\/p>\n
Last week, at Cork District Court, Judge Mary Dorgan ordered that media not to publish Mr Ahsan\u2019s address or report details that could identify the complainant.<\/p>\n
Judge Waters said he did not have authority to impose further reporting restrictions.<\/p>\n
Detective Garda Shane O\u2019Driscoll of Listowel Garda Station then took the stand and argued against bail, highlighting the seriousness of alleged offences on September 28.<\/p>\n
He alleged that between 3.10 and 3.30am, Mr Ahsan dragged the woman into the passenger door of his car by grabbing her shoulder and, when she broke loose from this he “dragged her into the car from behind”.<\/p>\n
It was further alleged that Mr Ahsan drove the car onto a main road with the passenger door open while the woman hung out of the vehicle.<\/p>\n
He was witnessed driving up and down the road, said Det O\u2019Driscoll. When garda\u00ed approached, he ran and hid behind a tree, the court heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is strong evidence of the case captured on CCTV,\u201d he told the court.<\/p>\n
The detective said the accused and complainant had an earlier interaction but had not known each other previously. He said there was a statement by another woman who had been approached earlier that night by the defendant.<\/p>\n
The complainant, a 20-year-old woman, had bruises over her body, legs and knees. She was attended by a doctor.<\/p>\n
Det O\u2019Driscoll told the court that false imprisonment is punishable with a life sentence. \u201cI believe there\u2019s a danger to life and the community,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cHe presents a danger to the life and safety of women and also presents a danger to the community\u201d.<\/p>\n
Det O\u2019Driscoll noted the arrest was within \u201ca couple of hundred yards\u201d from the alleged site of the incident and garda\u00ed had recovered the phone nearby.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahern asked Detective O\u2019Discroll if his client co-operated with garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo a certain extent, judge,\u201d said the detective.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will accept if he was to be refused bail today, he\u2019d be waiting a long time for trial,\u201d replied Mr Ahern.<\/p>\n
The accused entered the jurisdiction as an asylum seeker in 2023 and is father to a toddler and an infant. He has no previous convictions in Ireland but his criminal record was unknown outside of the jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know, we\u2019re making requests,\u201d said Detective O\u2019Driscoll.<\/p>\n
He added that Mr Ahsan\u2019s landlord had informed garda\u00ed that his wife and children had moved. \u201cWe don\u2019t know where they are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Detective O\u2019Driscoll stressed bail was not recommended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would have serious reservations,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially given the fact that there\u2019s another lady who was approached by this man shortly before this incident.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ahsan worked in a Listowel phone shop, his solicitor told the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not fully sure what his role in the shop is,\u201d noted the detective.<\/p>\n
Judge Waters stopped proceedings when it appeared Mr Ahsan was in discussion with the translator.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seems to be having a conversation,\u201d said the judge. \u201cListen to what\u2019s being said and if he wants an opportunity to speak, he\u2019ll be given that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing concerns that his client was a flight risk, Mr Ahern noted his client\u2019s wife and children lived in Ireland and that he had gathered \u20ac3,000 for bail.<\/p>\n
\u201cJudge, it\u2019s very easy to get into a car and drive to Northern Ireland out of jurisdiction,\u201d said Detective O\u2019Driscoll.<\/p>\n
Judge Waters said his concerns regarding bail related to the seriousness of the offence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flight risk would be low on the list of concerns,\u201d said Judge Waters. \u201cThe concern is that, no matter what conditions I apply, it could reoccur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Waters then denied bail.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concern for me is the apparent random nature of the case and that I\u2019ve heard he approached another woman on the same night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Ahsan will remain in custody and appear in Tralee on October 15 by video link. A book of evidence will be prepared.<\/p>\n
Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Judge David Waters denied bail, citing the \u201crandom nature\u201d of the alleged attack on a stranger and testimony…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23275,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-58344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-anna-zacharies","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}