A man has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrate’s today in connection with an incident where a man allegedly rammed his car repeatedly into a house where his former partner and three children were.
36-year-old Eoin Nolan, of no fixed abode, allegedly claimed he was going to ‘hack her up’ during the incident and faces 12 charges.
The charges faced by the defendant include four counts of threatening and abusive behaviour. He was also charged with two counts of possessing offensive weapons, namely an axe and a knife, criminal damage to walls, a door, and a window, threats to kill, as well as driving offences, including dangerous driving at Altcar Park.
All of the charges were said to have occurred on April 7.
A police officer said that this was ‘a prolonged and violent attack’ by the defendant on the home of his former partner of 23 years and their three children.
She said he arrived at the property armed with a knife and an axe ‘to cause fear and harm’ and caused ‘considerable damage’ to the door. The officer said that he then got into his car and had ‘repeatedly driven his car at the front wall of the house’, leaving a large hole in the wall and rendering the building ‘structurally unsafe’.
Bail was objected to on the grounds that there was a risk of reoffending and possible interference with witnesses. The officer said that she didn’t believe that Nolan could be managed on bail, given the nature of this violent incident.
Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that ‘clearly these are serious charges’ and said the defendant had ‘mental health issues’. He said Nolan had spent some time in a mental institution in the Republic in recent weeks.
The solicitor said he believed that this was an attempt at ‘death by cop’ as it appeared the defendant wanted police to shoot him. He added that there was no address at present, but Nolan could be released on bail to an address approved by the PSNI.
District Judge Oonagh Mullan said Nolan was ‘dangerous to himself’ and refused bail. He was remanded in custody to appear again on April 30.
