A man has appeared in court charged with a spate of glue attacks on cars and houses in Co Donegal over the past year.
William McElwaine appears in court today. Pic by NW Newspix.
William James McElwaine, 27, appeared at Letterkenny District Court today after being arrested by Gardai over the weekend.
His arrest follows months of attacks on pensioners and other homeowners at various locations across Letterkenny in recent months.
In total McElwaine faces a total of 29 charges of criminal damage on at least ten different occasions between September 2012 and May 2013.
His arrest follows a spate of glue attacks on property which left thousands of euro worth of damage.
Pensioners and young families at Ballymacool Terrace in Letterkenny were locked out of their homes when their front doors were super-glued.
A series of other attacks then occurred at various locations across the town.
Garda Stephen Moyles told the court that McElwaine had no response when 26 of the charges were put to him.
Of the other three charges he replied “I only did that once” to two of the charges and “I don’t remember, I don’t know that place,” to another charge.
McElwaine sat in court wearing a blue hoodie and didn’t speak throughout the hearing.
Garda Moyles said that he did not know the full extent of the cost of the attacks but one woman got a quote of €1,000 to repair her car.
Other homeowners had agreed a deal with a local locksmith to have the locks on their homes replaced.
Defence solicitor Frank Dorrian said he was seeking an adjournment to see the exact cost of the damage.
Inspector Michael Harrison, who said a full file has been prepared on the matter, said he had no objection to bail.
Judge Paul Kelly adjourned the case until June 5th and ordered McElwaine to sign on three times each week at Buncrana Garda station and keep a curfew of between 11pm and 7am each day.