Man in court after attempted hijacking of car in Donegal

Stephen Maguire

A man has appeared in court following the attempted hijacking of a vehicle in Co Donegal.

Father-of-two Martin McCarthy appeared at Letterkenny District Court on Thursday.

The 36-year-old is charged with both a public order offence and also criminal damage following an incident at Lower Main Street in Letterkenny on the afternoon of August 20th last.

McCarthy's arrest followed an incident which was widely shared on social media, which showed three men trying to gain access to a car.

The driver of the car is then seen mounting the pavement before hitting a litter bin and then driving off at speed.

McCarthy, with an address at Ballymacool Woods in Letterkenny, was brought to court by detectives having been arrested yesterday.

Detective Sergeant Gerry Farry said he had strong objections to bail in the case.

He said he believed that as well as the seriousness of the case, he believed McCarthy may interfere with witnesses in the case.

He outlined the background to the incident, which he said was connected with a family feud.

Detective Farry told how McCarthy was identified at the scene after the hood on his coat fell down during the incident.

Between £3,000 (€3,459) and £4,000 (€4,617) of damage had been caused to the car during the incident, the court was also told.

Detective Farry added that between what occurred on August 20th and what gardaí believe could occur, gardaí had no option but to step in and make a bail objection.

However, solicitor for the accused, Mr Rory O'Brien, said his client was entitled to the presumption of innocence.

He said there was a strong degree of cooperation from his client and that since this alleged incident happened almost two weeks ago, his client had not tried to flee the country.

He added that McCarthy had no difficulty in abiding with any conditions that the court may impose and stressed that "there are two sides to this."

Having considered the matter of bail, Judge Paul Kelly said he was refusing bail.

The reasons for this was the nature of the charges and also the possibility of interference with others as had been suggested in Detective Farry's evidence.

He noted there was also a serious ongoing issue between the accused and other individuals and that McCarthy was caught "red handed" at the scene of this incident.

The case was adjourned to Monday, September 15th.