Court told of rape allegation which led to rioting in Ballymena as bail application for 14-year-old is adjourned
A Ballymena schoolgirl was walking along a street in the town when she was dragged into a garage and allegedly raped and sexually assaulted by three males, a court heard today.
Ballymena Youth Court also heard that while two of her alleged assailants were arrested within hours of the incident on 7 June this year, a third suspect has fled back to Romania.
Details emerged in court for the first time as a 14-year-old Romanian boy, who cannot be identified because of his age, applied for bail. Both that defendant, and another 14-year-old, are on remand in custody charged with attempted rape.
It was hours after their first appearance in court on 9 June that rioting erupted in the town.
Giving evidence in the contested application today Detective Constable Sinclair told the court the girl’s grandmother contacted police that evening, to report that her granddaughter “had been raped by three Bulgarian males in a garage in Harryville.”
When police attended and spoke to the schoolgirl, she told them she was walking along the street when “three males grabbed her and took her to a garage down an alleyway.”
Inside the garage, the girl saw two mattresses “and she was put on one.”
The detective said that while two men tried to force the girl to perform sex acts on them, the third male who has since absconded, “raped her.”
“She said that this went on for about ten minutes but when they heard a male voice outside, the three ran off,” DC Sinclair told the court.
At that stage, the complainant “was able to leave the garage and get help” and based on the information provided by the teenager, police attended an address on Clonavon Terrace where the two 14-year-olds were arrested.
The court heard they “matched the description” given by the alleged victim.
The bail applicant, said DC Sinclair, “denied any criminal activity” and then refused to answer police questions during his interviews.
Turning to bail objections, the investigator told District Judge Trevor Browne “police have strong concerns that there’s a risk he may leave the jurisdiction.”
“Within hours of the defendant being arrested, a co-accused who had been identified, left the country and we believe he is residing in Romania.”
“We believe that, given the significant pubic disorder that descended after the incident, there’s a risk that if released, this defendant will leave the jurisdiction and we are not content that any conditions can be put in place to prevent that,” said the officer.
She added that while a proposed bail address outside of Ballymena had been put forward by the defence, there were also concerns about that as well.
DC Sinclair explained that while the occupant had been put forward as a relative, she told officers who spoke to her that “she was a friend of the family,” rather than a relative.
The officer continued that police had also ascertained there were three children living in the property, including a 14-year-old girl.
It was also a concern, said DC Sinclair, that another family with a young child appeared to be living in the house, a property she described as being “in a poor state of repair.”
“Police do not believe that any conditions will satisfy [their concerns] and we are aware that there’s an opportunity to surrender passports and ID cards, however, we believe there are other ways of leaving the country,” the officer concluded.
Defence counsel Conn O’Neill lamented that none of those concerns had been raised with the defence before the hearing, adding that had they been “we could have dealt with them.”
Highlighting that the defendant had voluntarily undergone DNA testing and an identity parade, he suggested that given the multitude of objections from the police, that the court adjourn the bail application.
That would allow the defence to verify whether the woman who has put her address forward is related or a friend.
It would also allow the defence the opportunity to make efforts to obtain an alternative address, said Mr O’Neill.
“I completely agree,” Judge Browne told the barrister, “with the best will in the world, the application just disintegrated before our very eyes.”
“We are all mindful that he is a 14-year-old boy with no previous convictions and there is a working presumption in favour of bail…but it would not be fair to force you on without giving you the opportunity to address this important obstacle,” said the judge.
Adjourning the bail application, the judge adjourned both cases to 6 August.
By way of an update, the prosecutor told the judge the case had been expedited, that the complainant has completed her Achieving Best Evidence video interview with the police and that the “target date for completion of the full file is the end of September.”