The father, uncle and aunt of a teenage boy missing for nearly two months in Co Tyrone appeared in court today charged with abducting him.
They were arrested after Tyrone McFall (14) was found by police yesterday at his uncle’s home in Dungannon.
Tyrone’s father, Damian McFall (39) of Redford Park, Dungannon, appeared at the town’s Magistrates’ Court with his brother, Shane, and sister-in-law, Tanya McFall, both 36, of Fairmount Park, Dungannon, charged with child abduction.
Shane McFall was also charged with assaulting a police officer during the recovery of the teenager.
Following police objections to bail, the men were remanded in custody to appear in court again via video link on February 18th. Ms McFall was bailed to return on the same date.
The court was told the boy was found hiding under a mattress in the uncle’s house.
A detective constable told the court the schoolboy and three siblings were the subject of a care order made in July 2007 which directed that they should live with Damian McFall’s sister.
On November 29th last year, Tyrone disappeared from his aunt’s home.
Under cross-examination by defence solicitors, the detective constable agreed the boy had run away and had not been taken forcibly.
A large-scale police search operation was mounted for almost two months during which, the officer said, the three accused had been “unco-operative in the hunt and failed to attend police meetings”.
He said police had searched the home of the boy’s uncle, Shane McFall, on a number of occasions following information that the boy was there, but had not found him.
However, they had returned in the early hours of yesterday morning and discovered him there.
The detective said that, as police went in the front door, Tyrone ran out of the back door but when he saw officers there he ran back inside.
“He was subsequently located upstairs, hiding between the mattress and the slatted base of a bed,” he said.
Tanya McFall and her husband told police during questioning that the boy had arrived at the house in the early hours of yesterday morning. They said they had let him in and intended to return him to his legal guardian in the morning.
However, the detective constable said police believe the boy had been there longer and said there was circumstantial evidence that clothes found in the house and drying on radiators were his.
Both McFalls denied the boy had been in the house prior to January 20th. Damian McFall’s lawyer said his client had walked the streets of Dungannon until 9pm most nights searching for his son and sometimes stayed with his brother afterwards.
Refusing bail to the men, District Judge John Meehan described the case as “extremely serious” and said it was his first impulse to ensure there was no possibility of interference with witnesses.
PA