A 22-year-old man has been remanded in custody after he was charged with the false imprisonment and endangerment of a 20-year-old student in Co Kerry last weekend.
Muhammed Ahsan was brought before Cork District Court on Tuesday and charged with four offences arising out of the incident involving the young woman in Listowel on Sunday, September 28th.
Det Garda Shane O’Driscoll of Listowel Garda station confirmed at the outset to Judge Mary Dorgan that Mr Ahsan had been brought to Cork because there were no court sittings in Kerry on Tuesday.
Mr Ahsan is charged with false imprisonment of the woman at Clieveragh Road, Listowel on September 28th, contrary to Section 15 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
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He was also charged with endangerment in that he drove a car with the front door open knowing the woman was hanging out of the car, thereby causing a risk of death or serious harm to her.
He was also charged with theft of the young woman’s mobile phone and with dangerous driving at Clieveragh Road, Listowel, all on the same occasion in the early hours of September 28th.
Det Garda O’Driscoll said he put the charges after caution to Mr Ahsan at 7.52pm on September 29th in Listowel. He added that the accused replied “no” to all four charges.
Defence solicitor Brendan Ahern said his client was not applying for bail at this stage. Sergeant John Kelleher applied for a remand in custody to Listowel District Court on Thursday.
Judge Dorgan remanded the accused in custody to appear on Thursday when Mr Ahern said he would be making an application for bail for his client.
Judge Dorgan ordered the media not to publish any details that would identify the complainant in the case after gardaí applied to have her name not published in any reports of the case.
She also ordered Mr Ahsan’s address not be published after Mr Ahern said he had concerns for the safety of the accused’s wife and two young children.
Mr Ahern applied for free legal aid for his client, but Judge Dorgan said that she would leave that matter to the judge who would hear the bail application in Listowel on Thursday.
Mr Ahsan was assisted throughout the brief hearing by an Urdu interpreter as, while he has good English, he might have difficulty understanding some of the legal terminology, the court heard.
