Suspended sentence handed to man who exposed himself to woman on train

A man who exposed himself on the Kilkenny to Waterford train was handed down a suspended sentence at Kilkenny District Court.

Desmond O’Hara, Apt 64, 16 King’s Inn Street, Dublin 1 was convicted of the offence under section 45 2 (c) of the Sexual Law Offences Act 2017.

The court heard that on July 8, 2023 a woman was travelling on the Dublin to Waterford train. The woman sat in Coach D of the train, which was a direct train, travelling in the direction of Waterford, and a male sat opposite her. Both parties remained in their seats until the train stopped briefly in Kilkenny.

Both the woman and the man stepped off the train momentarily and the man, whom the woman had never met previously, smoked a cigarette. The woman asked the man a question about when was the train due to leave the station and the man replied when the lights turn green.

When the woman returned onto the train people had changed seats and she sat on another seat by the window, there was no one behind her.

The man got into a seat behind her and put his hand down his pants. The woman subsequently told Gardaí that she was "positive that he was masturbating". The woman contacted her partner who told her to report the incident to staff at the station.

The woman saw the man’s face and recognised him as being the man who had been sitting opposite her initially. The man and the woman got off the train at Waterford Train Station and the woman reported the incident to staff. Gardaí arrived and the woman pointed out the man to them at the train station.

The defendant has no relevant previous conviction.

READ NEXT: RIP: 'He was the love of my life' - Heartbreak as young man killed during Storm Éowyn laid to rest

Solicitor Ed Hughes said that his client accepts the facts and wished to extend a sincere apology to the injured party and accepted that the incident was ‘entirely inappropriate’.

Mr Hughes said that his client is 44 years old and had a significant career in management in the IT industry and added that the offence was ‘out of character’.

“He is not working since the incident but a recruitment firm have found him another role,” said Mr Hughes.

He added that at the time his client had ‘significant paranoia’ and he had friends in Dublin who were well known to Gardaí and were involved in the drugs trade even though he was not.

He believed at the time that he was being surveyed by a lady who was a member of the Gardaí. He says that it was not for sexual gratification but was to see if she was a Garda. It is a bizarre instruction but it appears to be genuine,” added Mr Hughes.

“He accepts that his thinking was wrong and that there was a significant level of paranoia at the time. I think engagement with the Probation Services would be helpful. I think it was a once-off that happened in the context of paranoia,” said Mr Hughes.

Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted the man and remarked that an aggravating factor in the case was that it happened on public transport.

“There is no doubt that the matter before the court is of a serious nature,” she said and imposed a four-month prison sentence which she suspended for 18 months and directed engagement with the Probation Services. Recognisances were fixed.