BAIL DENIED | 

Asylum seeker (22) accused of biting woman during a ‘predatory’ attack in Dublin

A garda told the court it was believed the man came to Ireland in March “by ship in a container with his brother”

Today at 12:43

A MAN has been accused of following and carrying out a “predatory” attack on a woman who informed gardai she was held on the ground and bitten on her face and lips in a south Dublin suburb.

Homeless asylum seeker Seif Waleed Al Hindawi, 22, believed to be from Syria, was charged with assault causing harm to the woman who suffered facial injuries near her home in Churchtown on Wednesday night.

He was detained for questioning over two days, charged on Friday evening, held pending the next sitting of Dublin District Court and then denied bail by Judge Monika Leech.

Garda Michelle Maunsell told Judge Leech that Mr Hindawi’s reply to the charge was, “I didn’t attack her”.

The judge noted that the accused and the woman did not know each other.

Garda Stephen Morley objected to bail due to the seriousness of the incident and flight risk concerns.Outlining the allegations, Garda Morley said the woman stated that a male assaulted her after she got off a Luas tram at Windy Arbour at about 11.20 pm on Wednesday.

She told the gardai that she “felt someone was following her.”

It was alleged that she continued walking to her housing estate and contacted her husband “because she felt anxious at the situation.”She landed on her back and screamed, and the male “held her down and was attempting to bite her on the face”.

“She says the male was screaming in a foreign language, and she made attempts to defend herself by hitting him while she was still on an active call with her husband, who heard the assault over the phone.”

The garda told the court the woman stated she tried to kick the man to get him off her, and he ran away.The officer believed “this was a premeditated assault on a vulnerable female walking home alone late at night in a poorly lit area.”The complainant did not give evidence in the bail hearing.

Cross-examined by defence counsel Garrett Casey, the garda agreed the accused was entitled to the presumption of innocence; CCTV camera enquiries were being made, and the investigations were ongoing.

He accepted the barrister’s proposition that there would be a lengthy period before the matter came to trial.

Counsel pointed out the man had disputed the allegation when he was charged.

The garda concurred but said that the man had said in his interview that there was an altercation.