A man violently attacked a teenage girl on the Nitelink bus during an extremely psychiatric episode following a breakdown he had suffered, a court has heard.
John Hussain made eye contact with the 16-year-old girl who was on the bus with a male friend in October 2000 and turned when she heard a commotion behind her.
Hussain lunged at her, ripped open her blouse and her bra and bit her on the stomach before attempting to open the buttons on her jeans with his teeth. He was eventually restrained and the girl managed to escape his grasp.
Hussain (36), Grattan Street, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting the now 18-year-old woman on October 1st, 2000. He has no previous convictions.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne adjourned the case until October 10th for a probation report because of Hussain's history of mental illness and because he had no previous convictions. "There is no doubt that this was a barbaric attack and the effects on the victim are quite clear," she said.
Judge Dunne said it was a difficult case to deal with because it was an appalling attack by someone who was suffering from a serious mental illness at the time. She remanded Hussain on bail.
Hussain apologised to his victim, who attended court with her father, and said he would never have done it if he was in his right mind. "I am deeply ashamed and very sorry for what I did. I only pray the girl can forgive me. I would never have done it if I was in my right mind," he said.
Garda Sharon Mooney told Ms Mary Rose Gearty, prosecuting, that the girl came to the Garda station with her father three days later to make a complaint. Hussain was tracked down because of a jacket and a diary he left on the bus and was identified after an identity parade. He told gardaí he couldn't remember anything of the night.
Ms Marie Torrens, for Hussain, said her client had suffered a nervous breakdown when he was in the Bahamas the previous May and began to suffer serious paranoia.
Ms Torrens pleaded with Judge Dunne for leniency because it was a one-off incident. He had greatly improved in the two years since.