Man turned himself in after parents recognised him on ‘Crimecall’

A CAVAN man who “lurked” in the ladies’ toilets of a McDonald’s before trying to sexually assault a woman turned himself in after his parents saw him on ‘Crimecall’.

Adrian Smith (33) of Curkish, Bailieboro, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm and attempted sexual assault of a woman in McDonald’s on Grafton Street on June 14, 2014. He will be sentenced in July.

Garda Siobhan Murray told Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, that the woman tried to reason with Smith on two occasions and told him it was not worth the hassle as they were in a public place and he would be caught. As she started to scream, he told her to shut up.

She called for help causing Smith to punch her in the face. Smith then unbolted the door and left the toilets.

On September 22 2014, footage from the restaurant was broadcast on RTE’s crime investigation programme, ‘Crimecall’. Smith’s parents recognised their son and woke him up to tell him

Later that evening Smith contacted Bailieboro Garda Station and identified himself as the suspect on the programme. He said he had no recollection of the event.

Michael Bowman SC, defending, said the accused had travelled with a number of his work colleagues to an event in Dublin on the night and he had no recollection of the incident.

Counsel said Smith has since become a lifelong member of the Pioneer Association.

The woman, who was present in court, gave evidence that Smith was not drunk and knew exactly what he was doing.

Judge Patrick McCartan told Smith that his actions were “sinister in the extreme” but accepted he surrendered himself “when he knew the game was up”.

He acknowledged that Smith was a man of impeccable character and said it was usually his view that “when people make mistakes they should be allowed at least one chance, if the circumstances of the case allow it”.

“But what you did was very calculated and it had significant traumatic impact for a young woman who was using the facilities which she is entitled to do without fear of attack,” Judge McCartan said to Smith.

Mr Bowman said his client had brought it to his attention that he could be seen on CCTV going back into McDonald’s after the assault.

Mr Bowman asked that the court take some time to consider this as he said the State had also been unaware of this fact.

“He appears to walk past the victim and leaves again. This strikes me as unusual,” counsel submitted.

“Unusual and perhaps worrying,” Judge McCartan said before he added that it was “a most difficult case”.

The judge said the fact that Smith claimed he was so drunk he had no recollection of what he did was not consistent with the evidence.

“He was able to pick his location, lurk in there for several minutes and pick his victim… these are not the actions of someone so drunk they do not know what they are about,” Judge McCartan said.

The judge acknowledged that Smith had €10,000 in court for the victim and that he has taken “an oath not to drink again”.

He said he was adjourning the case for a probation report because he was concerned about Smith’s “propensity to do it again”.

“I am now intrigued by the suggestion that he returned to the area,” he said before remanding Smith on continuing bail to July 29 next.

Court report by Alison O’Riordan and Sonya McLean