A man found hiding in a shed at a Killygordon house while in possession of a knife has been remanded in custody.
Ryan Campbell appeared at Letterkenny District Court, where Judge Éiteáin Cunningham refused an application for bail.
Campbell, aged 24, was initially brought before the court on Monday having been arrested by detectives on Sunday morning.
On Wednesday, Judge Cunningham further remanded Campbell in custody after Gardai expressed concerns.
Campbell, who has an address at Gleann na Greine, Mullindrait, Stranorlar, is charged with trespassing with a knife, weapon of offence or other article on December 8, 2024.
The charge is contrary to section 10 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990.
On Sunday, Gardai responded to a call from a woman who reported that two males were persistently knocking on her front door in the Killygordon area.
After initially calling to the woman’s home, Gardai returned a short time later and located two males in a shed, one of whom was Campbell, who was in possession of a seven-inch kitchen knife.
Campbell was arrested at 5.50am, the court was told.
A bench warrant was in existence for Campbell in relation to another matter in July 2022.
He was charged that, at Longbrae, Castlefin, that he intentionally or recklessly caused serious harm to Robert Kennedy. The charge is contrary to section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
A legal representative of Campbell contacted Gardai some days after this alleged incident and said his client was aware that officers may wish to speak to his client.
Detective Garda Michael Carroll said that despite numerous attempts, Campbell failed to respond to Gardai.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed that this matter be dealt with by way of prosecution on indictment for an assault causing serious harm.
Detective Garda Carroll said Campbell has a history of failing to answer bail and has resided in Northern Ireland since the incident in 2022.
He said Campbell has “knowingly evaded” and was regarded as a serious flight risk. He said Gardai believed that Campbell would not abide by any bail conditions imposed by the court.
Solicitor for Campbell, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client could reside with his mother in Donegal, sign on daily at a Garda Station and provide a mobile phone number on which he would be contactable.
Detective Garda Carroll said that conditions would not satisfy An Garda Siochana.
Detective Garda John O’Sullivan informed the court that he made several attempts to contact Campbell following the 2022 incident. He said he spoke initially to Campbell in September 2022 and was told that the accused man was in London working.
He advised Campbell several times to make himself available to Gardai, otherwise a file would be sent to the DPP without his version of events.
Detective Garda O’Sullivan told the court that he was “looking very hard” for Campbell in the intervening period.
He said an application for an arrest warrant from the UK could only be made once directions were available from the DPP. That application has now been “set in motion”, he said.
“Any fears that the State have can be protected by way of a bond and strict conditions,” Mr Gallagher said.
Sergeant Maurice Doyle told Judge Cunningham that Campbell “goes from one jurisdiction to another”.
“He was contacted numerous times to answer the charge and he failed to appear,” Sergeant Doyle said. “At all times, he was aware that the charge was there and he failed.”
Judge Cunningham said she was refusing the application for bail as she was satisfied that the refusal was necessary to prevent the commission of further serious offence, taking into account the nature and degree of seriousness of the offences with which he has been charged, a sentence likely to be imposed on conviction and the nature and strength of evidence in support of the charge.
Campbell was remanded in custody to appear via video link to Letterkenny District Court on December 18.