A SECOND man was remanded into custody yesterday accused of trying to steal an ATM.
Appearing in the dock of Downpatrick Magistrates Court, 25-year-old Darren Porter was charged with burglary of Carlisle’s filling station, causing criminal damage to its canopy, endangering life and aggravated vehicle theft of the front loading digger, all allegedly committed on November 18 this year.
Porter, from the Listooder Park in Saintfield, Co Down, is the second person to be charged after 26-year-old Adrian Boyd, of no fixed abode, appeared in court earlier this week.
A detective constable said she believed she could connect Porter to the offences.
She told the court how a trailer had been stolen from Croob Park in Ballynahinch while CCTV footage from a quarry close to Carlisle’s garage showed the digger and a VW Passat leaving at 5.10am.
The officer described how the stolen digger was used to ram the ATM around 30 times and when that didn’t work, the driver used it to ram the front of the shop.
Scratch cards, cash and cigarettes were stolen.
The owner of the filling station arrived at the scene and saw two men getting into the VW Passat with a third male getting into the digger but when he tried to drive if, he crashed into the forecourt canopy causing it to fall down.
The court heard the stolen digger was found abandoned close to the quarry where it had been stolen from while the Passat was found burnt out around 200 yards away from Porter’s home.
According to the detective, Porter was seen running from the burnt out car and when police searched his home, they recovered clothing which matched those seen on CCTV footage which had been seized.
She also claimed that when Porter’s mobile phone was examined, it showed “that he had been in contact with Boyd.”
Under cross examination from Porter’s defence solicitor, the officer agreed he had “fully co-operated” with police but the lawyer told the court his client “denied all of the offences.”
He submitted that with “no forensic evidence to link” Porter to the attempted theft “at this stage,” he could be freed on bail with proposed address in Templepatrick.
Refusing bail however, District Judge Amanda Brady said the police investigation is “fresh and ongoing” and she shared police concerns about the risk Porter committing further offences or interfering with witnesses.
Porter will appear again via video link on 12 December.
Police meanwhile are investigating after an ATM machine was found dumped on a roadside in Millisle Co Down on Wednesday night.
The fire service was initially called to put out a fire on the Woburn Road and found the cash machine.
Police are trying to establish whether it is linked to the theft of an ATM from a premises on the Saintfield Road in Belfast on Monday.
Meanwhile a woman has been charged with handling stolen goods by detectives investigating the attempted theft of an ATM machine in Ballynahinch.
The 22-year-old woman has been charged with two counts of handling stolen goods and one count each of attempting to pervert the course of justice, driving with no insurance and driving whilst unaccompanied.
She is due to appear at Downpatrick Magistrates Court on Wednesday December 18.
