Laois Judge to write to Minister about man who was masturbating on a train

A Judge in Portlaoise said he would write to the Minister for Justice to have a man who was engaged in a “disgusting depraved act” on a train deported.

Mohamed Boudjemaa (35) of No Fixed Abode who is accused of possessing a false French passport, two counts relating to public masturbation and theft was arrested at Portlaoise Train Station on June 26 last.

Garda Detective JP O’Brien said the man was using a false French passport and his enquiries about the man were continuing in European countries.

“There is stuff coming back on him every day. We have to apply to each European country individually,” said Det O’Brien.

He said a woman who was getting a train from Cork to Dublin fell asleep and woke up to find the man sitting beside her. “He was masturbating himself outside his trousers,” he told the court.

He said the woman shouted at the man to go away and then discovered her airpods had been taken from her pocket. She set an alarm on the airpods and they went off in the man’s pocket.

Det O’Brien said the man then sat down beside another woman and again began masturbating outside his clothes.

“When I arrested him he was watching porn on his phone,” said Det O’Brien. He said the accused then “told me to f**k off”.

Det O’Brien said the man had been travelling on a false French passport and had ten convictions in France including for sexual assault, sale of goods in public, theft, aggravated theft and burglary.

He said the man had applied for asylum here under a different name and was refused. The application is under appeal. Det O’Brien said he believed the man was Algerian and had been using variations of his name.

Det O’Brien said in reply to the false passport charge through an interpreter the man replied, “yes true” while he said “I don’t speak English” to another charge and “I may have touched my private parts” to the charge relating to masturbation in public. The man replied "I don't remember” to the public order charge.

Solicitor Philip Meagher said his client wished to enter a guilty plea to the charges.

The case had initially been held in camera, where identifying details could not be published, but Judge Andrew Cody said “I don’t see the basis for this being in camera” if the victims' identities aren’t published.

Det O’Brien said Gardaí were still trying to establish all of the details in relation to the man. He said he had given different names in France and Germany along with different dates of birth making it difficult to get information. He said it was his belief that the accused was on the sex offender’s register in France.

“He is Algerian and we have his parents' names and dates of birth,” he said. He said there are records of the man in France and Germany.

“At some stage he was in the Netherlands. He is just bouncing around Europe,” said Det O’Brien.

Mr Meagher said his client was originally of Algerian extraction. “He was under threat. He showed a number of facial injuries,” he said. Mr Meagher said the man was “adamant” that he had arrived in Ireland in 2024 and he had made an application for asylum but was turned down. He said the application, under a different name, was under appeal.

Mr Meagher said the man had been staying with a friend in Arklow. He asked the court to disregard the evidence about the sex offenders register in France as he said Det O’Brien wasn’t able to establish that fact definitively.

Mr Meagher said the offending occurred when his client was drunk. “He instructs me that he would have little recollection,” he said. Mr Meagher said the airpods were returned after the alarm went off.

Mr Meagher also said the sexual “activity was outside his clothes and it was his own clothing”.

He said the man had been in Cloverhill and Wheatfield Prisons since June 26 and had found it very difficult.

Mr Meagher described the information being gleaned by Gardai about his client as “hazy” and said his client pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and didn’t seek disclosure.

“He was intoxicated and his behaviour was confined to himself but in the proximity of others,” said Mr Meagher. “He would say he simply lost control of himself,” he added. Mr Meagher said his client had instructed him to pass on his apologies to the two ladies.

Judge Cody said the defendant appeared to be travelling all over Europe using several aliases. He said he had addresses in Killarney, Wicklow and Carlow. “We don’t even know where he was living in Ireland,” he said.

Describing the offending as “disgusting and depraved”, Judge Cody noted the man had done it twice in front of two women and he had stolen airpods when one of the women was sleeping.

Judge Cody said if he could put the man on the sex offenders register he would but he said “unfortunately” the act of masturbating in public didn’t qualify to place someone on the register. He said the man had been “ducking and diving” with different identifications.

He sentenced the man to three months in prison for theft, nine months for possessing the false French passport, four months for each of the masturbation offences.

He said he would also make a recommendation to the Minister for Justice to have the accused deported.

“I will be writing to the Minister for Justice recommending his deportation from the country forthwith," said Judge Cody.

Det O’Brien said Gardaí had also started proceedings to have the man deported. He said there was a bench warrant in existence for the defendant from Dun Laoghaire District Court.

Judge Cody remanded the man in custody to appear before Dun Laoghaire District Court by video link on September 10.

Mr Meagher asked Judge Cody to fix recognisance in case of appeal. Judge Cody fixed recognisance on his own bond of €100 with an independent surety of €10,000 or €10,000 in cash.