Man (26) in court charged with attempting to abduct toddler

Tom Tuite

A judge has imposed reporting restrictions preventing the media from naming a man accused of attempted kidnapping of a toddler in Dublin due to "heightened" social media activity.

Gardaí responded to an incident in the north inner city on Thursday just after midday, arrested a man (26) and brought him to Store Street station.

The accused, who is from Eastern Europe and has an address outside Dublin in Leinster, was charged that without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, he intentionally attempted "to take a child under the age of 16 years" from the control of a named person.

The child has the automatic right to anonymity because of the mandatory reporting restrictions in the Children Act.

The man was held in the station overnight and appeared before Judge Monika Leech at Dublin District Court on Friday.

In evidence, Garda Sergeant William Godfrey told the court he arrested the man under section 17 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act at 12.06 pm on Thursday.

He said the accused was detained in the station, "interviewed in relation to the offence", and charged shortly after 10.15pm on Friday night.

Garda Sergeant Godfrey said he "was handed a true copy of the charge and made no reply to the charge".

He added that there was an application to remand the man in custody.

The judge noted that an interpreter was assisting the accused, who did not address the court.

His defence barrister confirmed that he was not applying for bail.

Counsel moved an application for "reporting restriction of all parties," adding, "The matter concerns a child. There are safety issues; I understand there is quite a lot of activity on social media."

The sergeant agreed and said, "It is a very sensitive matter and has a propensity to cause issues".

The judge enquired about the extent of the restrictions sought, and counsel referred to the names of the parties and their legal representatives.

"I understand the level of, how would I put it, opprobrium, is very, very high. So there could be issues of safety. I do not make this application lightly," the barrister replied.

The judge asked for the basis to restrict reporting names of the defence legal practitioners.

The barrister said: "Activity on social media is very heightened, and the fear is that would get to such a level of knock-on consequences, judge, and I don't think you can underestimate that under the circumstances."

The judge asked about the Director of Public Prosecution's (DPP) directions.

Garda Sergeant Godfrey said the DPP directed to charge the man, but his trial venue had yet to be decided.

"Due to the seriousness of the case charges, we would anticipate it would at the higher court," he added.

Judge Leech remanded the man in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on May 10th. She said, "I am imposing full reporting restrictions in respect of matters canvassed to me," and directed an immediate psychiatric report on the defendant to be prepared. Legal aid was granted.