Armagh All-Ireland winner Aidan Nugent, charged with a series of sexual assault allegations, is to go on trial after Halloween, a court has heard.
The 31-year-old did not attend Newry Crown Court where prosecuting counsel Fiona O’Kane said that with the ongoing industrial action by the Criminal Bar Association over legal aid fees, it was highly unlikely the case will get on before the summer.
Conceding that “I’m mooting this for the first time,” Mrs O’Kane suggested scheduling the trial for the first week after the Halloween recess.
“We would be incredibly hopeful that the industrial action will be over by then,” she told Judge Paul Ramsey KC, adding that if it was listed now as the first going trial, “nothing will bump the case” down the queue.
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, “in the United States of America” on 17 November last year.
It is understood to be the Crown case the offences were committed in America when the Armagh GAA team had 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.
In court on Wednesday, Nugent’s defence solicitor suggested adjourning the case for a week to ascertain the availability of counsel.
Instead, Judge Ramsey said he would list the trial, “on a provisional basis,” for 2 November with a review on 15 April, adding that if there was a problem with counsel’s diary, he could fix a new trial date.
ENDS
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