Solicitor expresses shock after his client is charged over alleged incident on GAA trip

The matter arises out of an alleged incident in November last year when the Armagh GAA team travelled to Miami in Florida to celebrate the team's All-Ireland win, their first All-Ireland title in 22 years after they clinched victory over Galway at Croke Park in July.

“I am shocked by the decision of the PSNI to charge my client in relation to an incident that occurred outside the jurisdiction last year,” solicitor Patrick Higgins of law firm Donnelly and Wall declared today.

Around 30 players, the management team, family members and other senior figures from the Armagh County Board are understood to have spent a week in Miami in the middle of November and it has been alleged that an offence of sexual assault was committed.

The alleged assailant was first interviewed on a voluntary basis last December and in a statement at that time, Mr Higgins highlighted that his client “co-operated fully with the PSNI in the initial stages of the investigation.”

Today (Monday) the 30-year-old was formally charged with four offences including two of sexual assault and two of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without their consent and he is due to appear at Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, on 6 May.

In a statement released in the aftermath of the police decision to charge the man to appear in court next month, the solicitor declared: “I believe there was no necessity to arrest my client.

"A formal complaint was made to the PSNI on 20th November 2024. No contact was made between the PSNI and my client for three weeks.

"When requested he presented himself voluntarily at Banbridge Police station where he was arrested over four months ago.

“The request by the PSNI to charge, I believe, is without merit and shall be challenged further down the line.

“I believe the decision to charge the suspect to Court by the PSNI is influenced by the media publicity this case has attracted due to his profession and in breach of my client’s right to a fair trial and in breach of his right to private and family rights.

“My client maintains his innocent and has instructed me to contest the charges fully.”