The court heard McNally’s record of 488 previous convictions includes five offences of indecency
16:22, 29 Apr 2026Updated 19:53, 29 Apr 2026
General view of Ulster University’s Belfast campus at York Street
A man who allegedly spied on a woman at Ulster University toilets is to be barred from any further return to the Belfast campus, a High Court judge ordered today.
Michael McNally is accused of peering over the top of a cubicle at her while performing a sexual act on himself.
Mr Justice McAlinden granted bail to the 39-year-old after imposing a strict exclusion zone.
“It will encompass the main campus and accommodation blocks in that area,” he stressed.
McNally, of Cliftonpark Avenue in Belfast, faces a charge of voyeurism over an alleged incident in ladies toilets at the city centre university on December 2 last year.
Prosecution counsel Charlene Dempsey told the court: “A female was in a cubicle, looked up and observed a male looking over the top.
“She believed he was masturbating on that occasion.”
McNally was arrested after being identified on CCTV footage from that area, but denied any involvement during interviews.
He spent more than four months in custody before securing initial release earlier this month.
Police detained him again, however, after he was said to have made two further attempts to enter the university.
The court heard McNally’s record of 488 previous convictions includes five offences of indecency.
“The concern is he was granted bail and walked back round to Ulster University to try and get in,” Ms Dempsey submitted.
“One doesn’t know what would have occurred if security weren’t well aware of him.”
Defence barrister Luke Curran set out how McNally has been left with brain damage from sniffing glue as a youth.
“Any offence of this type is obviously egregious and a profound breach of somebody’s private life,” he acknowledged.
But he argued that the defendant has already spent the equivalent of a nine-month sentence on remand in custody.
Granting bail again, Mr Justice McAlinden directed that McNally must immediately contact his community support worker.
The judge warned: “If he’s given a chance and keeps rocking up to Ulster University it is not going to go well for him.”
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