Ex-Celtic player Paddy McCourt guilty of sexually assaulting woman in bar
dailyrecord.co.ukFormer Celtic player Paddy McCourt has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in a bar last year.The 39-year-old father-of-three was found guilty of committing the crime on January 30, 2022, in the 57 Bar in Waterloo Street, Derry.
A court heard he had reached under the woman’s skirt and touched her underwear.On the second day of the trial at the Magistrate’s Court in Derry, it emerged that the ex-celt player’s DNA was not among the mixed profile male DNA found on the complainant’s dress or underwear, reports Belfast Live.
The court was also told that as part of their investigation into the allegation, the PSNI sought and was granted a warrant under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 enabling investigators to carry out a secret mobile phone examination and surveillance of the defendant’s mobile phone traffic in the immediate aftermath of the complaint being made against him.
Defence barrister Eoghan Devlin said it was the first time he’d ever heard of such a warrant being granted for a Magistrate’s Court case as it was normally used in terrorist related and murder cases.When it was put to the investigating officer in the case by Mr Devlin that the police had “missed clearly signposted chances and opportunities in the course of your investigation to question another potential suspect”, the officer replied “it would appear so yes”.Mr Devlin said that that potential suspect has since moved to Australia.In his direct evidence, former Northern Ireland international footballer Mr McCourt said he’d gone out on the night with friends and had drinks in several bars.
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