Man who grabbed woman’s genitals caught by victim’s photo

A health-and-safety officer who put his hand up a woman’s skirt and groped her as she walked through Temple Bar, in Dublin, was identified from photographs she took immediately after the attack, a court has heard.

Bryan Doherty (36), from Co Mayo but with an address at Ashington Close, Navan Road, Dublin, had followed the woman before he put his hand up her skirt, grabbed her vagina area and then walked away.

He was remanded in custody on Friday by Judge Brian O’Shea after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the woman at Cope Street on June 22nd, 2017.

Following an application by the media on Friday, Judge O’Shea lifted reporting restrictions that had earlier prevented Doherty from being named.

Det Garda Brendan Nolan told the court that the woman was walking home from work through Temple Bar alone when she was approached from behind by a man she did not know. She had headphones on at the time.

The young woman told gardaí that the man “reached under skirt and grabbed inside her underwear”. She told Det Garda Nolan that the area the man grabbed was beside her vagina or vagina area.

The court heard she turned around in fright and “this male proceeded to walk past her, and the injured party followed the male and managed to take photographs of this male”.

A print-out of one of the photographs was handed to the judge, who said it was clearly and undeniably the accused.

Judge O’Shea heard Doherty was later identified from the photographs by a previous employer who helped gardaí in their inquiries.

Gardaí also obtained video evidence from the area and the footage captured the entire incident, the court was told.

The young woman was present for the hearing but not required to give evidence. She had provided the court with a victim-impact statement. Judge O’Shea noted she recalled Doherty had “forcibly grabbed” her.

She said she was now “continually looking over my shoulder” and had experienced moments of anxiety and panic. It had affected her day-to-day life and she felt violated, vulnerable and angry, the court was told.

She had thought about it incessantly. “I thought what might have happened if it was night time or a more secluded area,” she said. It had affected her ability to trust new people.

The court heard the man had not come to attention since and had abided by bail terms. He had six prior convictions for motoring offences that resulted in fines and road bans, including two counts of attempting to drive while over the alcohol limit.

Defence solicitor Brian Keenan said he was instructed to convey his client’s sincerest apology. It had been “a moment of madness” and his client could not remember the incident because he had been drinking.

He said Doherty had an alcohol addiction but has been attending counselling.

He said he had concerns for his client’s mental state and asked the judge to note that his client made admissions and entered an early guilty plea.

Judge O’Shea revoked bail and remanded Doherty in custody to consider sentencing. He also said he wanted to view the CCTV footage of the incident.