Men in court jointly accused of sex offences

By Paul Higgins

Two men have appeared in court jointly accused with raping a 12-year-old girl. 

Standing side by side in the dock of Lisburn Magistrates Court, Gerard Michael Owen McKenna (27) and Paul Sheridan (23) confirmed they understood their respective charges. 

McKenna, from Rockville Street in Belfast and unemployed Sheridan, from Hillfoot Crescent in Ballynahinch, were jointly charged with the rape and sexual assault by penetration of a female child under 13 on Monday, December 23.  

Shop keeper McKenna was further charged with three additional counts of sexually assaulting a second 15-year-old female child by penetrating her private parts and anus with his fingers, tendering counterfeit currency, stealing alcohol worth £2.99 from a Spar shop and two counts of making a threat to kill two males. 

According to the charge sheet detailing the offences, Sheridan made no reply after he was cautioned while McKenna declared “shove it up your hole” when the rape offence was put to him and declared others as “madness” and “not true.”

It is understood the charges arise following an incident at the Lagan towpath on Monday. 

Giving evidence to the court, Detective Sergeant McArthur said he enjoyed he could connect both men to the charges against them and that police had objections to their bail applications amid fears they would commit further offences or interfere with the witnesses. 

He outlined how the two children were with the defendants at the towpath on Monday afternoon when McKenna allegedly “held the 12-year-old’s hand and kissed her” before sexually assaulting her with his hand and having sex with her. 

The officer said the same girl also alleged that Sheridan held her hand and kissed her before raping her, activities which were allegedly done “without her consent.”

DS McArthur continued that McKenna the allegedly stole alcohol from an off licence where he also bought beer using a counterfeit £20 note, adding it was after that when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted the teenage girl. 

“After acquiring alcohol, they went to Belfast by train where further sexual assaults occurred,” claimed the officer. 

He revealed that due to the “vulnerability of the girls,” neither formal statements nor Achieving Best Evidence video interviews had been conducted so police were proceeding on verbals accounts from the alleged victims but that the ABE’s will be held “in the coming days.”

He further revealed that both complainants had attended at a rape enquiry centre. 

Both Sheridan and McKenna were arrested and interviewed and the court heard that Sheridan had admitted being with the 12-year-old and that they had touched each other but claimed it had been “over clothing” and with her consent while McKenna “denied all offences.”

Turning to specific nail objections, DS McArthur told the court both men had criminal records including convictions for breaching bail and court orders as well as bench warrants for failing to attend court. 

McKenna, the court heard, had only been freed from prison three days before the rape allegations and several times, the judge had tell McKenna to stop interrupting the proceedings as he made several outbursts about the charges and officer’s evidence. 

Under cross examination from solicitor John Burke, acting for Sheridan, the officer agreed that usually, a defendant is charged with sex offences once an ABE has been conducted but told the lawyer “this case has its own aggravating factors and it’s our job to protect the public and that’s why they were charged.”

Solicitor Daniel McCorry, on behalf of McKenna, revealed that his client had consented to a forensic examination and asked the detective if he had put forward a number of locations in Belfast where CCTV could be checked. 

DS McArthur agreed he had and there would be follow up enquires. 

Despite defence submissions the men could be freed with bail conditions to assuage those concerns, District Judge Amanda Henderson said she shared the police concerns “not least to do with the age and vulnerability of the injured parties” so she was refusing bail. 

Sheridan and McKenna will appear again via videolink on January 6.