Michael McMonagle released on bail after hearing on child sex offence charges

A fomer Sinn Féin press officer who was arrested after failing to appear in court earlier this week, has been brought before a judge in Londonderry. Michael McMonagle, 41, from Limewood Street, is accused of three sex offences involving children. He’d been due to appear before the Magistrates’ Court in Derry on Wednesday, but when he did not attend, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

It later emerged that McMonagle was not in court because he had been taken by ambulance to Altnagelvin hospital. Yesterday, the PSNI arrested him at the hospital, and today he was brought before to Bishop Street Courthouse. He stood in the dock, his throat covered by a large medical dressing, and spoke only to confirm his identity and to say that he understood the charges against him. He’s accused of attempting to communicate with a child between May 2020 and August 2021 for the purpose of sexual gratification, attempting to cause a a child to look at an image of sexual activity, and attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Police opposed an application for bail on the grounds that he could self-harm or fail to attend future court hearings. Defence solicitor Paddy McGurk assured the court that McMonagle would attend court, and described him as a man of "exemplary background". Mr McGurk said Michael McMonagle meant no disrespect to the court when he failed to attend on Wednesday. Judge Barney McElholm released McMonagle on bail, but ordered him not to have unapproved contact with under-18s. In recent years, Michael McMonagle worked as a press officer in Sinn Féin offices in Stormont, Westminster, and Europe. Sinn Féin says that soon as it became aware of his arrest, his employment and his party membership were suspended.

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