A man threatened a driver that he had a Glock pistol down his trousers' during a hijacking incident, the High Court has heard.
The details emerged as Ashton Connery (23), of Clooney Road in Derry applied to be released on bail on charges of hijacking, false imprisonment, theft and common assault.
A prosecution barrister said that at 11:30pm on July 10, a man was parking his white Seat Leon at Fitzroy Avenue off Ormeau Road in south Belfast.
He told police that he was approached by three males who asked him to take them to the Anchor Lodge petrol station and Spar shop on nearby Ravenhill Road.
"The three males got into the vehicle and male who got in behind the driver's seat told the injured party: 'You are going to take us to the Spar shop or we going to hurt you','' said the prosecutor.
When they arrived at the shop, Connery got out of the car. The front seat passenger, a co-accused, told the driver if he didn't hand over money "he would be stabbed". The injured party gave Connery £10.
"He then went into the shop and purchased cigarettes. However, CCTV footage in the shop shows him lifting a packet of Skittles and a Twix chocolate bar which he did not pay for.
"This applicant is then seen on CCTV getting into the front passenger seat of the Seat Leon. The injured party was ordered to take them to the nearby Forestside Shopping Centre.
"The driver tried to go back to where the males first got into his car but a male sitting behind him put his arm around his throat and told him to drive to Newtownards.''
The lawyer said Connery told the driver: "I've got a Glock (pistol) down my trousers and if you don't keep doing what we say I will shoot you.''
The prosecution lawyer said the victim managed to stop the car and get out of the vehicle before running off towards Ormeau Park with the three males pursuing him.
He ran back to the Anchor Lodge filling station to get help from staff who alerted police.
"At 1:30am, police stopped this applicant and another male walking on the Newtownards Road as they matched a description provided by store staff,'' said the prosecutor.
"They were arrested and on searching this applicant a packet of Skittles and a Twix bar were found on his person. There is CCTV footage from inside the garage which I am told by police is of good quality in terms of seeing this applicant's face within the store.''
The court heard that a third suspect from the incident is currently outstanding. During police interviews, Connery replied no comment.
The barrister told the court that a VIPER identification procedure has been arranged for witness viewing on December 14. Forensic swabs from the interior car door handles had come back with "multiple DNA sources''.
The prosecution lawyer accepted that Connery had a "modest criminal record'' for thefts but added that the charges he has been on remand for showed a "clear escalation'' in his offending.
He said police opposed bail on the grounds of reoffending and non attendance at court as the PSNI had been looking for Connery since September 2022 on three outstanding bench warrants and only managed to track him down to a hostel on January 31.
Defence barrister Declan Quinn said police were unable to locate Connery for four months as he had been moved to a hostel in Derry by the Housing Executive.
The defence lawyer said Connery, who has a Housing Executive address in Holywood available to him for his bail application, had now consented to taking part in the VIPER procedure in December.
"This was an incident that morphed from a serious one into an almost sinister incident which doesn't seem to have been planned but was more opportunistic than organised crime.," Mr Quinn said.
Following submissions, Mr Justice O'Hara said he was adjourning the bail application until he received more information about Connery's background.