Man in court accused of punching and spitting on police

A man punched and spat in the face of police when they tried to arrest him at a property in Londonderry, a court has heard.

Connlan Boyle, 20, from Rosskeen Park in the city, was remanded in custody after a district judge said he was “unmanageable in the community”.

Londonderry Magistrates’ Court heard Boyle was in a property when a police officer was stabbed, but he was not connected to that incident.

He appeared by videolink on Friday with a bandage on his head and confirmed he understood the charges against him, which are three counts of assault on police, two counts of assault on a police designated person, and possession of a class B controlled drug.

Opposing an application for bail, a PSNI constable told the court police had received information in the early hours of Thursday that Boyle, who was wanted for breaches of bail conditions, was at a property in Collon Lane in Derry and was under the influence of drugs.

He said that when police arrived they could hear shouting coming from the property. When an officer was speaking to a man through the front window, he was punched in the face.

When police entered the property an officer was stabbed and an attempt was made to stab a second, the constable said.

He told the court Boyle had no connection to these offences.

Police then entered the kitchen and found Boyle. When they attempted to speak to him, he punched an officer in the face, the court heard.

As police attempted to restrain him, he spat in the face of an officer.

The constable said when Boyle was brought to Waterside PSNI station, he spat at a detention officer in the search room, hitting him in the eye, before kicking him and spitting again as he was taken to a cell.

The constable said police objections to bail include a potential risk of reoffending and of breaching bail conditions.

A defence solicitor pointed out his client “had no connection with the grave offence that has been reported in the media”.

Deputy District Judge Sean O’Hare told the court the bail application was “doomed to failure”.

He said: “It is quite clear he is at significant risk of reoffending, he failed to abide by bail conditions in the past, in particular in the recent past.

“He is completely unmanageable in the community.”

Boyle was remanded in custody until December 10.

A 21-year-old man arrested on suspicion of offences including attempted murder remains in police custody as inquiries continue.