A man has admitted falsely accusing X Factor judge Louis Walsh of groping him in a nightclub.
Leonard Watters apologised in court for making two false reports to gardaí that the pop music mogul sexually assaulted him in Dublin nightspot Krystle.
Watters (24), from Navan, Co Meath, went into the witness box in the city’s District Court to say sorry to Walsh.
“I would like to sincerely apologise to Mr Louis Walsh for all the stuff I put him through. The allegation was false,” he said.
Judge Dermot Dempsey Dempsey ordered a probation and welfare report on Watters and adjourned sentencing to January 5th. “I’m considering a custodial sentence given the gravity of it,” warned the judge, who can impose a fine of €634 per charge and/or 12 months in prison. “It’s a very serious matter.”
Det Insp Michael Cryan told the court Watters had claimed the assault happened on Saturday, April 9th, after Westlife had performed at the 02 concert venue in Dublin.
He said the pair had been socialising in a pub and travelled to Krystle together. At about 4.30am, Watters approached a garda on patrol
on Harcourt Street outside the nightclub, alleging he had been sexually assaulted by Walsh.
The investigators said Watters was taken to Mountjoy Garda station where he made the same allegation, before being examined at a sexual assault unit.
Watters was met by gardaí several times before me made his first official statement on June 20th at Harcourt Terrace Garda station in Dublin city centre, the same day he pointed out the toilet where he alleged the offence took place.
“On June 24th I met Mr Walsh under caution and he denied it,” added Mr Cryan.
The senior garda revealed Watters made a second false statement on June 27th - the day before CCTV from the nightclub was reviewed. “It became obvious the CCTV did not support his allegations,” he added.
Watters was arrested at his home on June 28th and was interviewed five times.
“He admitted Louis Walsh did not sexually assault him,” said Mr Cryan. “He continued to claim he was sexually assaulted in the toilets but that Louis Walsh did not do it.”
The court heard that Watters - a former ballroom dancing teacher - had previous convictions for breaching a barring order and driving offences and had self-harmed since the Walsh case became public.
In mitigation, solicitor Cahir O’Higgins said his client was now a pariah in his home town and a Walter Mitty-type character. He revealed his client suffered severe burns in an accident when he was about 12 years old, resulting in leaving school when he was 16 and receiving a big financial award which he worked through quickly, without self-control or maturity.
Mr O’Higgins also maintained his client was a fragile and vulnerable person who was found in a disoriented state after he self-harmed by throwing himself in a river in July.
He said the out-of-work father of two young daughters had respectable parents who have been traumatised by what happened, adding that he was unemployable as a result of the case.
“Mr Watters has been at the receiving end of a ferocious mauling at the hands of the media. The reason for that is because of himself,” said Mr O’Higgins. “Self-harming was something that was an act out of that. All he wants to do is apologise and accept without reservation he was wrong.”
The court previously heard that Watters, who was dressed in a black suit, black shirt and black and white striped tie, is on disability benefit of €188 a week and paid out €30 a week in rent.
PA