A MAN who is accused of entering St Mel’s College in Longford town over two weeks ago armed with a knife was refused bail and remanded in custody by Judge John Neilan at yesterday’s sitting of Longford District Court.
Johnathan Mooney (26), of Casey Court, Kenagh, Co Longford, appeared before the judge seeking to apply bail after the High Court granted a conditional bail application last week.
One of the conditions was that he must reside at his mother’s address.
However, questions arose yesterday about whether he would be welcome to stay there.
The accused, who is charged with trespassing at the college and of entering the college building with a knife in his possession on April 3rd, told the court that he was a “welcomed guest” at his mother’s address, where the court ordered he must live.
Supt Denis Shields of Longford Garda station told the court that issues had arisen with regard to the address and he also said that it was the opinion of gardaí that the accused was not a welcomed guest there.
The judge requested that gardaí investigate the matter, and after a short recess the superintendent informed the court that gardaí had made contact with the accused’s mother and that she had clearly indicated to them he was not welcome at her home, and that she “was disgusted that there was even a suggestion” that the accused reside at her address.
The judge allowed the accused to speak from the witness box.
The accused told the court yesterday that he was certain his mother did not have any issues with him residing at her address, and he believed a third party had interfered with her decision.
The accused also told the court that he would abide by all conditions of bail as applied by the High Court and pointed out to the judge that he “had High Court bail a couple of times before and hadn’t broken it”.
The judge refused bail and questioned the granting of bail in the first instance, given the severity of the charges.
Mr Mooney was remanded in custody to Castlerea prison and requested to appear again on May 5th.