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Man charged with sexual assault in Castlecourt

Massimo Giacomin
Massimo Giacomin Massimo Giacomin

A man has been remanded into custody accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Belfast shopping centre.

Appearing in the dock of Belfast Magistrates Court, Massimo Giacomin (39) confirmed he understood the single charge against him.

Giacomin, of no fixed address, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Castlecourt shopping centre on November 10.

A prosecution lawyer said the victim is due to give her formal statement on Monday having made a “verbal complaint” and there is also “body worn footage.”

Defence solicitor Paul Dougan said the alleged victim “is a staff member at Castlecourt when security staff happened upon it.”

“She does verbalise her complaint on the footage and the defendant makes a response and an acceptance,” said the lawyer adding that “it’s quite an unusual allegation.”

He said that “the touching appears to have been possibly made not by the defendant physically touching her by hand but by accidentally touching her with a key and the injured party says on the tape she’s not sure what exactly she was touched with.”