Two men charged in connection with a traffic pursuit in Dublin on Sunday evening, in which a stolen car was allegedly driven on the wrong side of the M50 for one kilometre, have been denied bail.
Daniel Brown (22), of Hampton Wood, Dublin 11, was charged with four counts of dangerous driving, being in a stolen Volkswagen Golf estate car and possession of cannabis.
Co-defendant Adam White (25), also from Hampton Wood, was charged with being in the stolen car and possession of cannabis for sale or supply.
The pair are also accused of having a stolen key to a Toyota car.
Garda Dylan Toner, of Coolock Garda station, gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution, and objected to bail for the pair, who had no solicitors to represent them because of the industrial dispute over legal-aid fee reforms.
They opted to represent themselves and had separate hearings, during which Toner told Judge Karen Dowling both men made no reply when charged.
The garda objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the incident and charges. He said he expected the case would be sent to the Circuit Court, but added that the book of evidence was yet to be completed.
He was emphatic in his assertion that imposing bail conditions would not alleviate his concerns about the accused men.
The garda alleged the pair were arrested following a 40-minute traffic pursuit and were “caught red-handed”. It was stated that the Garda helicopter captured the whole incident on CCTV.
He told the court that Brown drove for more than one kilometre northbound on the southbound lane of the M50 before he was arrested.
In cross-examination, the accused, Brown, asked Toner if he had seen him getting out of the driver’s side of the car.
The judge warned Brown, because he had no legal representation, about the risk of self-incrimination.
Brown maintained that he was being carried in the stolen car.
“I put my hands up to that,” he said.
The judge gave the accused men time to read the bail objections and allowed Brown’s partner and a relative of White’s to sit with them briefly to help them prepare for the bail hearings.
“I had nothing to do with the car,” White told the court.
Both men had seen a doctor in custody to have injuries examined and were deemed fit to appear in court. Brown’s face was bruised, and White, a father of three, said he had a sore ankle.
The garda said White was caught close to the car when it stopped. He was adamant that no bail conditions would satisfy him and said the charges painted a picture in relation to that alleged incident.
The judge stressed that the pair enjoyed the presumption of innocence and lacked legal representation. However, she held that the threshold had been reached to refuse both men’s applications and remanded them in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Friday.