Two men charged with stealing £5,000 scanner from Altnagelvin Hospital remanded

Two men have been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrates' Court charged with entering Altnagelvin Hospital as trespassers and stealing a scanner valued at £5,000.

Liam Murray (20) and Caolan Murray (18) both with no fixed abode appeared charged with entering the hospital on July 29 stealing the scanner and cash.

A police officer connected the accused to the charges and opposed bail. 

The court heard that on July 29 police were called to the hospital after the Records Department was found to be 'ransacked'.

Desks had been ransacked and at least one medical device was missing. 

It was said that the pair had stolen a swipe card that gave them access to most areas of the hospital and they had entered the Records Department at around 5.54am and the missing scanner was valued at £5,000.

The movements of the two were tracked on CCTV and they spent several hours in the North Wing of the hospital and tried to access several rooms.

Police went to a location and found Caolan Murray still wearing similar clothing. 

He said that he was homeless at the time and had gone to the hospital for somewhere to stay and met Liam Murray there.

The court was told that Caolan Murray had six previous convictions and Liam Murray had 102 previous convictions. 

Bail was opposed due to the risk of reoffending. 

Defence solicitor for Liam Murray, Paddy MacDermott, said his client had a bad record but it had 'slowed up recently'.

He asked for bail to an address approved by the PSNI. 

Defence solicitor for Caolan Murray, Seamus Quigley, said his client had 'a significantly different record' with previous convictions in the Youth Court. 

District Judge Ted Magill said that there was a risk of them committing further offences and refused bail. 

Both were remanded in custody to appear again on August 27.