Media banned from naming man accused of attempted kidnapping of toddler in Dublin – The Irish Times

A judge has imposed reporting restrictions preventing the media from naming a man accused of the attempted kidnapping of a toddler in Dublin due to the “intensification” of social media activity around the case.

Gardaí responded to an incident in the city’s north center on Thursday shortly after midday, arresting a 26-year-old man and taking him to Store Street station.

The defendant, who is from Eastern Europe and has an address outside Dublin but in Leinster, was charged that, without legal authority or reasonable excuse, he intentionally attempted to “remove a child under the age of 16” from the control of a named person. .

The child has an automatic right to anonymity due to mandatory reporting restrictions set out in the Children’s Act.

The man spent the night at the police station 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 Offenses Against the Person Act at 12.06pm on Thursday.

He said the accused was detained at the police station, “interviewed in relation to the offence” and charged shortly after 10.15pm on Thursday night.

Sergeant Godfrey said “he was given a true copy of the charge and did not respond to it.”

He added that there was a request to keep the man in custody.

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

His defense lawyer confirmed that he was not requesting bail.

The lawyer filed a request for “restriction of reporting by all parties” and added: “The matter concerns a child. There are security problems; I understand that there is quite a bit of activity on social media.”

The sergeant agreed, saying, “It is a very sensitive matter and tends to cause problems.”

The judge asked the scope of the requested restrictions and the lawyer mentioned the names of the parties and their legal representatives.

“I understand that the level of, as I would say, opprobrium, is very, very high. Then there could be security issues. “I do not make this request lightly,” the lawyer responded.

The judge asked for grounds to restrict the disclosure of the names of defense attorneys.

The lawyer said: “The activity on social media is very intense and the fear is that it will reach that level of consequences, judge, and I don’t think that can be underestimated given the circumstances.”

The judge asked about the instructions of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Sergeant Godfrey said the Public Prosecutor’s Office had ordered the man to be charged, but the venue of the trial had not yet been decided.

“Due to the seriousness of the charges in the case, we would anticipate it would be in superior court,” he added.

Judge Leech ordered the detained man to appear at Cloverhill District Court on May 10. She said: “I am imposing total reporting restrictions in respect of the matters brought before me,” and ordered that an immediate psychiatric report be prepared on the accused. Legal assistance was granted.