DPP decision awaited on bus attack suspect in RTÉ Crimecall programme

Tom Tuite

Gardaí have six weeks to get the Director of Public Prosecutions' instructions over a man charged with attacking a woman on a bus in Dublin after being identified through RTÉ's Crimecall programme.

The alleged incident in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14, on May 29th, 2024, featured in a public appeal for assistance in January.

Martin Ball, 36, of Gleann na hEorna, Springfield, Tallaght, appeared at Dublin District Court later that month charged with assault causing harm to a woman at Grange Road, Rathfarnham, D14.

He was granted bail with a condition not to travel on a specific bus route. He appeared again on Wednesday when Judge Shalom Binchy noted gardaí did not have the DPP's directions on the case yet, and the defence consented to an adjournment.

Mr Ball, who remained silent during the proceedings, was remanded on continuing bail and ordered to return to court on April 23rd.

He has yet to indicate a plea.

At his first hearing on January 29th, there was no objection to his bail with conditions, most of which had been flagged to defence counsel Fergal McMorrow.

No evidence about the alleged assault was given so far during his appearances in court.

Mr Ball is to have no contact directly or indirectly with the alleged injured party or any witness, reside at his current address, sign on three days a week at his local garda station and stay off the S8 Go Ahead bus, which the court was told goes through Rathfarnham to Cabinteely.

Mr McMorrow had argued that the signing-on condition was "a little onerous" for his client, who worked full-time and had no prior convictions.

The defence was agreeable to all the other terms.

The court sergeant asked it to be part of the bail due to the nature of the charge, and he added that the accused had been identified through Crimecall.

Because of the lengths gardaí had to go to locate him, Judge Paula Murphy, then presiding, left the requirement for Mr Ball, who has been granted legal aid, to sign on every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. However, she added that the issue could be revisited.