A DUTCH national arrested at Shannon airport and charged with causing a mid-air bomb scare aboard a transatlantic jet this week was remanded in custody for a further period yesterday.
Jenny Fitzgibbon, solicitor for Jorge Flores, secured an order granting an application to extend the legal aid certificate to cover the costs of a prison visit with an independent interpreter.
Judge Joseph Mangan remanded Mr Flores in custody to Shannon District Court next Thursday.
Garda Insp Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions “will probably direct that the case go forward on indictment to the Circuit Court”.
Insp Kennedy said the matter of jurisdiction has already been raised and that further charges may be made when the full case file is presented.
The next sittings of Ennis Circuit Court are on February 9th.
He is charged in connection with the incident on Wednesday on board an Aruba-bound Boeing 767 flight from Amsterdam with 231 passengers aboard.
In the charge contrary to section 43 of the Air Navigation and Transport Act 1988, Mr Flores is accused of knowingly making a false alarm on the flight by stating he had a bomb, which interfered with the operation of the aircraft.
Mr Flores was travelling by himself and the bomb scare sparked a major security alert at Shannon airport on Wednesday morning after the aircraft’s captain performed an emergency landing at Shannon.
A Garda search did not find any device and a replacement aircraft flown in by Dutch air charter firm Arkefly flew the holidaymakers on to the Caribbean island of Aruba off the coast of Venezuela on Wednesday night.
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