A 31-year-old man has been freed on bail after appearing in court charged over a public order incident in Dundalk, Co Louth.
The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Drogheda District Court charged with the breach of a barring order, two counts of causing a breach of the peace and with possession of a carving knife with a pointed blade.
All of the offences are alleged to have been committed at Oakland Park in Dundalk on Monday, July 20th.
Before a contested bail hearing, a solicitor told the court he had explained to the accused that he was not in a position to act on his behalf because of the ongoing solicitors’ strike.
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A garda told Judge Stephanie Coggans he was objecting to bail on a number of grounds, including the seriousness of the charges and concerns that the accused might interfere with witnesses.
The officer told the court that gardaí had responded on Monday to reports the accused was armed with a knife during an ongoing domestic dispute.
The garda said that after fleeing the scene, the accused was confronted at a car park, where he ran towards officers while holding a knife.
Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit were called because of the level of aggression displayed by the accused, the court heard.
The garda said the man repeatedly ignored orders to drop the knife and told gardaí to shoot him.
“At one stage, he put the knife towards his own throat,” said the garda.
He told the judge that the armed gardaí “had to deploy non-lethal munitions” to subdue the accused because of the volatility of the situation.
After hearing a number of undertakings from the accused man, the judge granted him bail under strict conditions on his own bond of €1,000.
She adjourned the case to Dundalk District Court on September 2nd.
