The homeless man is accused of raping a 6 year old girl and a 9 year old girl after they went missing from a children's birthday party last weekend after the pair managed to escape and raise the alarm.

Shortly afterwards, three men were arrested. Two of them were released without charge.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with four counts of rape.

Judge Seamus Hughes accepted a request for a psychiatric evaluation and ordered that the accused be placed on suicide watch and be afforded all of the necessary protection in custody because, he said, we live in the real world.

Concerns were raised by both the prosecution and the defence about media coverage of the trial and Judge Hughes said he had every confidence that the public would allow the legal process to take place.