Man in court for assault on tourist in Dublin denied bail

A construction worker has appeared in court charged in connection with an assault on a Canadian tourist on O’Connell Street in Dublin last Sunday.

Ionut Danca, 24 and with an address at Rathdown Square, North Circular Road, Dublin 7, is charged with assault causing harm to Neno Dolmajian in the early hours of 23 June.

He appeared at Dublin District Court today, where Judge Bryan Smyth held Mr Danca was a flight risk and denied bail.

Mr Dolmajian, who is from Montreal and in his 40s, has not regained consciousness and was brought to the Mater Hospital “and is unresponsive” in the intensive care unit. His father and sister travelled from Canada and watched Mr Danca’s bail hearing from the public gallery.

Detective Sergeant Eoghan Byrne told Judge Smyth that the accused was allegedly with a group at Cathal Brugha Street when the injured party approached and engaged in conversation.

It was claimed a member of the group struck him, and they moved on to O’Connell Street, where there was another interaction with the injured party.

The detective sergeant believed Mr Danca, who is a Romanian national, had no ties to this jurisdiction and could face additional charges.

He agreed with defence solicitor Evan Moore that the accused had no prior criminal convictions and lived and worked in Ireland for six years and that he came back from Belfast voluntarily following discussions.

Detective Sergeant Byrne feared that if released on bail, the accused would not turn up to court again because he was aware of the severity of the tourist’s condition, but this may not have been the case when he first returned.

Judge Smyth remanded Mr Danca, who has yet to indicate a plea, in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on 5 July for directions from the DPP.

He is the second man to come before the court’s over the incident.

On Monday, Madalin Ghiuzan, 23, originally from Romania but with an address at Summerhill Parade, Dublin 1, was charged with assault causing harm to the tourist and was refused bail.