Irishman arrested at Sydney airport accused of raping 16-year-old in Civic club

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to an alleged sexual assault.

An Irishman accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl inside a Civic nightclub has been granted bail after he was arrested at Sydney International Airport while trying to return home.

The girl and her friend were drinking alcohol on a night in July 2023 then continued doing so after they got into Fiction, a club on Bunda Street, court documents say.

It is alleged she began dancing with Simon Patrick Maher before she tried to lead him out of the club.

However, he allegedly convinced her to go down a stairwell where he tried to sexually assault her while she kept saying, “I need to find my friend”, then he orally raped her.

They separated and she left to find her friend. Later, she was sitting on a bench outside the club when it is alleged Mr Maher sat next to her and digitally raped her, before several bystanders saw them and confronted him.

The girl reported the alleged incident to police about an hour later.

Police went to Mr Maher’s then-home in Melba and arrested him that same morning. But after they carried out a forensic procedure, he was unarrested.

He was attempting to catch a plane to Dubai then on to Ireland when he was arrested at the Sydney International Airport on Sunday (17 December) and extradited back to the ACT.

The 25-year-old faced the Magistrates Court the next day (Monday, 18 December) and was charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of attempted sexual intercourse without consent.

He applied for bail and his lawyer said he intended to defend the charges, had told his family about the allegations and they were planning on coming to Australia to support him.

The lawyer said the alleged incident was from six months ago and his client could have “absconded” any time since then if that was his intention.

The construction worker also would have returned to the ACT to speak to police if they had contacted him, the lawyer said.

The prosecutor, who opposed bail, argued that as the forensic procedure was conducted before he was unarrested, he would have been aware that the investigation was in the background.

She said the girl was highly intoxicated at the time and would have been vulnerable. She also said Mr Maher was in the country on a working holiday visa and did not have any ties to Australia.

However, Magistrate Jane Campbell said his passport had been confiscated, he had no criminal history and she thought bail conditions could ameliorate any flight risks.

Bail was granted on conditions including that he live in Sydney until he moves to the NSW Southern Highlands in 2024, he reside under a night-time curfew, report to a police station every day, not apply for a new passport and not enter the ACT unless for legal or medication reasons.

The matter was adjourned to 15 January.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.