Three men who were arrested following an incident in which four gardaí were injured in Co Laois have been remanded in custody until later this month.
Thomas McInerney (39), Twomey Park, Mountmellick; William McInerney(36), Newline Close, Mountrath; and Gerard McInerney (38), Moanbaun, Mountrath appeared before Judge Catherine Staines at Tullamore District Court.
All three faced charges of possessing stolen property, the unauthorised taking of a vehicle, and possession of articles at Cloncourse, Mountrath, last Tuesday.
Sgt Mark O’Connell gave evidence of arrest and caution. He said five Garda units had been involved in the arrest at Cloncourse. Two Garda patrol cars had been rammed and four gardaí ended up in hospital, he said.
Wearing balaclavas
Sgt O’Connell later told the court: “I was present when the incident occurred. Three men alighted the vehicle wearing balaclavas.”
Supt Joe Pendergast said gardaí were seeking to have the three accused remanded in custody and were strongly objecting to bail in all three cases under section 2 and 2A of the Bail Act. Judge Staines remanded the three in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on July 20th.
Applying for bail for Thomas McInerney, solicitor Philip Meagher said his client, a married father of three, had resided at the same Mountmellick address for the past 15 years.
Mr Meagher said the charges being faced by his client carried a maximum sentence of five years and he was willing to obey strict bail conditions.
Chief Supt John Scanlan said the defendant was arrested as part of an intelligence-led operation which had been targeting a group of criminals.
This Garda operation had been established specifically because of crimes that were terrifying rural communities.
William McInerney’s solicitor Donal Farrelly said his client “has put forward an innocent explanation as for his presence on this day”.
‘No evidence’
He said the married father of six had not been driving the vehicle.
Mr Farrelly said there was no evidence the men had stolen the vehicle.
Counsel John Connellan applied for bail for his client Gerard McInerney.
Mr Connellan told the court his client was an unemployed married father of six.
He said the charges were at the lower end of the scale in terms of bail applications and his client was willing to obey any number of bail conditions.
Chief Supt Scanlan said the criminal gang being targeted had burgled homes, commercial premises and farms, and had driven high-powered vehicles dangerously to try and evade capture. The interiors of these vehicles were sprayed with a liquid, generally suncream, to prevent the collection of forensic evidence.
Judge Staines requested a statement of means in all three cases and reserved the issue of legal aid, which she said could be backdated to July 13th.