A Bulgarian man accused of raping a child in Co Armagh has appeared in court following his extradition back to the UK earlier this year.
Hamid Halbryan Hamid, with an address in Armagh Street, Newtownhamilton, appeared at Newry Magistrates’ Court charged with rape of a child under 13, attempted rape of a child under 13, causing/inciting a child under 13 to engage in a sexual act and two counts of sexual assault of a child.
The 35-year-old is alleged to have carried out the offences on May 16, 2019.
During the short hearing – via videolink from Maghaberry – Hamid confirmed his name but struggled to confirm his date of birth due to the language barrier.
Defence counsel asked for an adjournment of the Preliminary Enquiry (PE) due to the fact Hamid was “unaware of what’s happening because PE papers were only served yesterday afternoon”.
Hamid’s defence added: “He was only in the UK for a short enough period of time before the commission of these [alleged] offences and he was only brought back two months ago.
“He hasn’t been in the UK as long as Your Worship might think. I’ve never been able to consult with him without an interpreter, not even on the telephone.”
A preliminary enquiry date of next Wednesday, May 24 was agreed when defence confirmed that he would be visiting Hamid in prison on Monday with an interpreter already organised for that visit.
The case was adjourned and Hamid returned into custody.
