By Paul Higgins
Armagh All-Ireland winner Aidan Nugent was today (tues) ordered to stand trial in the Crown Court, facing eight charges of sexual assault.
Appearing in the dock of Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Newry, the 31-year-old confirmed he was aware of the charges against him, all of them alleged to have been committed “in the United States of America,” on 17 November last year.
Nugent, from the Cullyhanna Road in Newtownhamilton, faces seven charges of sexual assault and one of sexual assault by penetration, alleged to have been committed against a single complainant.
It is understood to be the Crown case the offences were committed in America when the Armagh GAA team travelled to Miami, 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.
Nugent’s defence solicitor Patrick Higgins has emphasised that during formal police interviews, the defendant claimed that “any sexual activity was consensual.”
Mr Higgins has also revealed that when Nugent was charged with the offences, the All-Ireland winner replied: “I deny the allegations – it was consensual.”
During a brief preliminary enquiry court today (tues), the legal step necessary for any case to be returned to the Crown Court, a prosecuting lawyer submitted there is a prima facie case against Nugent.
Mr Higgins conceded the point but declared that Nugent “strenuously denies the allegations.”
The court clerk told Nugent he had the right to comment on the charges or to call evidence on his own behalf, but he declined.
Returning the case to Newry Crown Court, District Judge Anne Marshall freed Nugent on £500 bail and ordered him to appear for his arraignment on October 2.
Applying for legal aid to be extended in allow a senior barrister to be instructed, Mr Higgins told the judge that was on the basis that one of the charges carried a potential sentence of life imprisonment.
He also contended that “all of the people involved in this are in the public eye” and that if Nugent is convicted, there is not only a risk to his reputation “but also a risk to his liberty and livelihood.”
Judge Marshall told the solicitor she would rule on his application later today (Tues).
ENDS
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