A man alleged to have strangled a woman while covering her mouth and nose with a curtain in an attack carried out shortly after he was released from court on bail has been remanded in custody.
The man, who is in his 30s, cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the alleged victim in the case.
The man was further charged when he appeared before Letterkenny District Court.
Garda Pauline Doherty gave evidence of charging the man at Letterkenny courthouse.
The man was charged with a sexual assault and with an assault causing harm. He was also charged with the false imprisonment of a woman and with the non-fatal strangulation of the same woman.
Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court that Gardai were objecting to bail.
He was previously charged with an assault and another charge of assault causing harm.
The court heard that, on a date in October, Gardai responded to a report of a dispute at a property in Donegal and found the injured party with a mark on her face.
The accused man was highly intoxicated and not forthcoming with any details.
After he was brought to Sligo District Court, the man was released on bail and returned to the same area later that day.
It was alleged that an argument ensued, during which the man put his hand down the woman’s top and touched her breast.
It was claimed that the man threw her onto a bed and, having fallen onto the floor, the woman grabbed the curtain on the way down.
The court was told that the man put his hands around the woman’s neck and covered her mouth and nose with the curtain before punching her repeatedly on the face. After the woman got up, he was alleged to have punched her repeatedly on the stomach.
Photos of the injuries sustained by the woman were handed into the court.
The man has been in custody since late October and, while granted bail by the High Court, he has been unable to comply with conditions laid down.
“We can’t take up the High Court bail until we get an address and we can’t get an address until we get out,” Mr Patsy Gallagher, solicitor for the accused, told the court. “It’s a chicken and egg situation.”
Sergeant Doyle told the court that there were serious concerns that the man would commit further offences or could interfere with the injured party or other witnesses if he was released.
Sergeant Doyle said that the man was previously released on bail and had allegedly committed further offences.
Judge Cunningham refused bail and remanded the man in custody.
“I deem these charges to be of the most serious nature,” Judge Cunningham said.