A man charged in connection with a carjacking in Longford has apologised to the victim.
Janis Zarans (29) appeared before a special sitting of Longford District Court yesterday.
Mr Zarans, a Latvian national, of 15 Weaver’s Hall, Market Square, Longford, is charged with the false imprisonment of Sabrina Cence at Heaton’s car park, Townspark, Longford, on October 29th.
Garda Orla Geraghty told Judge Grainne O’Neill that in reply to Mr Zaran’s caution and charged, he replied: “I want to apologise to the woman”.
Mr Gearty said that he was not applying for bail for his client at this stage. He had been issued with grounds of objection to bail by the gardaí beforehand, he said.
Judge O’Neill granted legal aid, assigning Mr Gearty to represent Mr Zarans. Garda Geraghty applied to have Mr Zarans remanded in custody to appear again at Harristown District Court on November 7th.
Remanding him as requested, the judge queried if there was a need for medical attention, but Mr Gearty advised her that there was no requirement for a request for medical attention to be attached to the custody warrant.
Carjacking A second man remains under medical attention at Tullamore Hospital following the carjacking in the centre of Longford town just before 6pm on Wednesday.
A woman returning to her car at the carpark on Ballymahon Street was approached by two men and attacked at knifepoint. She was forced into the back of her car and driven away from the car park at speed.
Gardaí at Longford station tracked the incident on CCTV and pursued. The woman’s car eventually went off the road and crashed into a ditch on the Athlone Road.
One man was arrested at the scene. A second fled on foot and was later taken to hospital under escort after being injured trying to cross a busy road. .
The 46-year-old woman was taken by ambulance to Mullingar Hospital. She was detained overnight for medical assessment and released on Thursday.