Man who allegedly rammed car into Derry house claimed he was going to 'hack' his ex-partner up, court told

A man has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrates’ Court in connection with an incident in which a man allegedly rammed his car repeatedly into a house where his former partner and three children were in and claimed he was going to ‘hack her up’.

Eoin Nolan (36), of no fixed abode, faced a total of 12 charges including four counts of threatening and abusive behaviour that were said to have occurred on April 7.

He was also charged with two counts of possessing offensive weapons namely an axe and a knife, criminal damage to walls, a door and a window, threats to kill as well as driving offences including dangerous driving at Altcar Park.

Again all of the charges were said to have occurred on April 7.

A police officer said that this was ‘a prolonged and violent attack’ by the defendant on the home of his former partner of 23 years and their three children.

She said he arrived at the property armed with a knife and an axe ‘to cause fear and harm’ and caused ‘considerable damage’ to the door.

The officer said that he then got into his car and had ‘repeatedly driven his car at the front wall of the house’ leaving a large hole in the wall and rendering the building ‘structurally unsafe’.

The court heard that throughout the incident Nolan repeatedly made threats to the police claiming he would hack the woman up.

Bail was objected to on the grounds there was a risk of reoffending and possible interference with witnesses.

The officer said that she didn’t believe that Nolan could be managed on bail ‘given the nature of this violent incident.’

She also said police believed Nolan was a danger to himself, his family and the general public.

Defence solicitor Paddy MacDermott said that ‘clearly these are serious charges’ and said the defendant had ‘mental health issues’.

He said Nolan had spent some time in a mental institution in the Republic in recent weeks.

The solicitor said he believed that this was an attempt at ‘death by cop’ as it appeared the defendant wanted police to shoot him.

He added that there was no address at present but Nolan could be released on bail to an address approved by the PSNI.

District Judge Oonagh Mullan said Nolan was ‘dangerous to himself’ and refused bail.

He was remanded in custody to appear again on April 30.

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Man who allegedly rammed car into Derry house claimed he was going to ‘hack’ his ex-partner up, court told

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