Folajimmy Awode convicted of sexual assault at Mater

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Folajimmy Awode was convicted of sexual assault at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. He had pleaded not guilty. The charge concerned a female patient at the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin in November 2013. Awode worked as a part-time care assistant in her ward. The proceedings were reported on 15 June 2015.

The jury returned a majority guilty verdict on the third day of the trial after four and a half hours of deliberations. Judge Patricia Ryan revoked Awode’s bail and remanded him in custody for sentence on 7 July. She ordered preparation of a victim impact report for that day.

The woman, who cannot be identified, said she felt rubbing on her right breast and later saw Awode standing beside her bed, moving his hand away from her body. In a garda interview read to the court, Awode said he entered because someone was coughing and briefly checked on her, finding her asleep.

Michael Hourigan BL, defending, asked whether she had told a nurse she might have been dreaming. She said she had told the nurse she was not dreaming. Nurse Trisana Joseph testified that the woman said she initially felt she was dreaming but woke when the sensation recurred. The woman had received painkillers and valium. Dr Padraic O’Neill, a retired neurosurgeon, testified that the medication would have had no cognitive or sedative effect on her.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.