A TWO-man alleged robbery team tried to run a 40-foot lorry off the motorway to steal £15,000 worth of cigarettes, a court has heard.
As well as the attempted robbery on Friday morning, Kieran Carlin (36) and Jason McMillan (26) are accused of stealing cigarettes worth £3,756 in a similar incident on December 6.
Carlin, from Spinner Square off Belfast's Falls Road, was charged with a total of nine offences which also included driving without a licence or insurance, two counts of dangerous driving, having incorrect registration plates, going equipped for theft with an angle grinder and balaclava and possessing a weapon, namely a hammer.
McMillan, from St Peter's Place in Belfast, was charged with theft, attempted robbery and going equipped for theft with a Stanley blade.
A detective told Belfast Magistrate's Court on Saturday that just after 6am on Friday, a lorry driver became suspicious of a Ford Fiesta car, believing it was trying to make him stop.
Knowing that a colleague had been involved in an incident when a small car forced him to stop on the Westlink 10 days earlier, he contacted his manager who in turn contacted police.
When the lorry eventually came to a stop at Sprucefield roundabout off the M1, officers were waiting.
The detective said the Fiesta, with Carlin behind the wheel, came to a stop directly in front of the HGV and when police opened the rear doors of the trailer, McMillan was inside.
Searches uncovered a Stanley blade in the trailer and an angle grinder, balaclava and hammer in the car.
Both men "gave prepared statements" and while Carlin denied knowledge or involvement in either incident, McMillan "made a significant statement more or less saying 'that's not robbery, that's theft'," said the officer.
He told the court that in the December 6 incident, a Ford Fiesta forced a HGV to stop on the Westlink and when it pulled in front of him, another man jumped out of his trailer and got into the Fiesta which then drove off.
District Judge George Conner denied bail and remanded the men into custody to appear again on January 13 via videolink.
