A Bulgarian man, accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in Newtownhamilton almost six years ago, has been granted bail ahead of his trial in September.
Hamid Halbryan Hamid, with an address of Armagh Street, Newtownhamilton, appeared in Newry Crown Court on Friday for a bail application, having already spent more than two years in custody.
The 37-year-old is also accused of attempted rape of a child, causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in a sexual act, and two counts of sexual assault against a child.
All offences, which were allegedly carried out of May 16, 2019, relate to the same complainant.
A prosecutor for the Crown told the court that the alleged injured party “reported to a classroom assistant that she was anally raped and sexually assaulted the night before”.
Hamid was arrested, interviewed and consented to intimate samples being taken.
He told police, on the date in question, “he had dinner, went for a walk at approximately quarter past eight in the evening, and returned to bed at 9pm”.
He denied the allegation put to him, and stated he did not know the alleged injured party.
The complainant disclosed to police that “the defendant came into her bedroom at 11 o’clock at night [and] anally raped her.”
The prosecutor told the court that the alleged injured party stated that Hamid “came into her home address via the back door…came into her bedroom, kissed her back and undressed himself….[before allegedly sexually assaulting her]”.
He added: “She told him to leave her alone….she tried to punch him off her. She told him she needed to go to the bathroom, and whilst she was there, he threatened her, saying, ‘don’t call your mum…or there will be problems’. He then left the address.”
CCTV was reviewed and could show that “at the relevant time a male going up the side of the property towards the back door, and in terms of the views of the CCTV cameras, the police case would be that a male would have had to have left by the front door; he was subsequently seen walking down the street, although the front door couldn’t be seen.”
The Crown prosecutor outlined the two occasions Hamid breached bail by leaving the country.
When police spoke to his partner in December 2019, she informed them that the defendant had returned to Bulgaria a month previously.
On January 26, 2020 police were informed that Hamid had booked a flight from Dublin Airport to Stansted and on January 27, 2020 he was located at Stansted Airport and transferred back to Northern Ireland.
On September 14, 2020 police conducted a further check on the defendant after he failed to report as required by his bail conditions. They spoke with the residents of the property, who said that he had not been there since the week previously.
They checked his room and there was no belongings of his left. The person in his address said Hamid’s father was unwell, and he had returned home to Bulgaria.
As a result police applied for European Arrest Warrant which was granted in September 2022.
Hamid was located and arrested by local authorities in Bulgaria before PSNI officers transported him back to Northern Ireland in April 2023, where he has been detained ever since.
In the interim period, the prosecutor said that a further DNA analysis was submitted, and this DNA was “attributed to Hamid or any male that shared that particular profile, such as a close paternal line male relative of his, and that was detected on the extracts” taken from the alleged victim’s body.
“This,” he said, “is not defined as conclusive support, but a strong support.”
He added that the main objection to his release would be “a failure to surrender and risk of further offences”.
The prosecution also raised concerns over the proposed bail address “as it’s only a few metres from a primary school”.
However, Hamid’s defence said his client has been in custody since April 1, 2023, and “by my calculation [that] is two years and three months. He’d also spent six weeks in custody in Bulgaria.”
He added: “It’s quite possible that he may well have served more than any time that he would receive if he was found guilty and sentenced by the court.
“He has now actually served the equivalent of a five-year sentence, so that in my respectful submission, fits him into slightly different position than perhaps he’d applied for bail two years ago.”
Addressing the previous breach of bails, the defence argued that Hamid “did travel out of the jurisdiction on a number of occasions, to England and also to Bulgaria, and on each occasion, he returned”.
The barrister stated that Hamid’s father “had taken a stroke in Bulgaria which was his reason to return”.
He continued: “His father’s condition has significantly improved, and indeed, one of his sisters, who was resident in Northern Ireland has moved back to Bulgaria permanently to look after her father, so there’s absolutely no need for him to return.”
The address proffered for bail is that of his sister and her husband who own a business and have been residing in Northern Ireland for 15 years. They, the court heard, were willing to offer up a cash surety and employment to Hamid.
His Honour Judge Irvine KC remarked: “I’ve listened carefully to all these particular matters…and having reflected upon all the objections, which have been proffered by the prosecution in this particular case, I am, however, still prepared to admit this defendant to bail.”
Hamid will have to abide by a curfew of 8pm to 7am and report daily to police. He will be electronically tagged and has to surrender his passport.
He was released on his own bail of £500, with the cash surety of £1,000 lodged with the court.
The trial is set to begin on September 8.
