The Mercedes van hijacked, crashed and set on fire in the Galliagh area on Saturday morning
Lee Sean Bradley, of Collon Lane, has been charged with hijacking, possession of an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence, namely a knife, and arson on February 13, 2020.
The 20-year-old is further charged with the aggravated taking and damage of a vehicle and dangerous driving in the Bracken Park area on the same date.
Police objected to bail at Derry Magistrates’ Court today due to a ”serious risk of reoffending”.
The officer said that Bradley has “quite a poor record” and has been on bail for others matters since September 3, 2020.
Over the past 12 months, the officer said, he has been involved in four incidents involving stolen vehicles and driving offences showing that his ‘pattern of offending is escalating’.
A PSNI officer said police believed the defendant stole a Merecdes-Benz Sprinter van on Saturday.
She described it as “serious unprovoked offending against a member of the public who was going about his day’s work”.
A defence solicitor Seamus referred to the defendant’s original case from January 2 and asked if the police would take a different stance if they were just dealing with that matter.
Seamus Quigley accepted there was a “very strong prima facie case’ to answer in terms of the January incident in the form of CCTV evidence of him taking a vehicle for a ‘period of time’.
He suggested CCTV from the weekend is ‘extremely poor quality’ but the officer disagreed saying it is ‘very good quality’.
She added that two males can be seen wearing masks.
The defence solicitor replied that it is “almost impossible” to identify anyone.
The PSNI officer said the clothing can be seen in the CCTV and the defendant was arrested 30 minutes later wearing “very similar” clothes.
Granting bail, the district judge said he was satisfied the defendant could be monitored by way of a strict curfew and other conditions.
Bradley was freed on bail of £400 along with a curfew of 8pm-7am, a ban on consuming alcohol or drugs.
He is further banned from having any contact with the alleged injured party and he is not to be a driver or passenger in a private motor vehicle.
The 20-year-old is due back in court on Thursday, March 11.
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