Man accused of hijacking and kidnap was carrying 12-inch knife, court hears

Aaron Lynch, from Main Street, Castlederg, is charged with hijacking a van and kidnapping the male driver, while brandishing a hunting knife.

It is further alleged following arrest Lynch damaged the interior of a PSNI vehicle.

Offending is alleged to have occurred last Thursday (August 4) afternoon in the Market Street area of Omagh.

A detective constable told Omagh Magistrates Court the charges could be connected.

She explained shortly after 2pm police received a 999 call from the driver who described the defendant open the passenger door of his van and jump in clutching a ‘Rambo-style’ knife, 12 inches in length and housed in a sheath.

Lynch, who was noted to smell strongly of alcohol instructed the man to “drive him about the town”.

‘On-the-run’

Upon refusing, Lynch drew the knife from the sheath, pointed towards the driver and stated, “I need to get out of here. I’m UDA. I’m on-the-run.”

The driver moved off and Lynch asked him, “Are you a Fenian b*****d? Do you know who I am? I’m Aaron. What’s your name?”

The driver continued onto the Dublin Road and the traffic was very slow-moving, leading Lynch to shout abuse out the window at others on the street.

He turned to the driver and said, “I suppose you are really afraid of me because I have a knife.”

The driver pulled into a parking space outside a bar, telling Lynch he would be back in a minute.

Instead on exiting the vehicle he ran into the bar and called police.

Meanwhile, Lynch made off on foot with the knife tucked under his left arm.

ERRATIC

An off-duty police officer was in a local shop and observed Lynch stumbling through the doors and behaving erratically shouting, “Police, police.”

He left the store and ran along the street where he was detained by police. A member of the public alerted officer to the knife which was lying under a car close to where Lynch was arrested.

While being transported to custody, he said, “You are trying to get me lifted for nothing.”

Lynch largely replied ‘no comment’ to questions during interview including which asked if he would take part in an identity procedure.

Objecting to bail, the detective said there was a strong risk of re-offending and interference with witnesses.

A defence solicitor conceded the bail application was difficult but pointed out while Lynch has previous convictions, he had, “Never offended at this level before. He has catapulted himself into the Premier League. From dealing with my client in the past, all offending has been through his addiction to alcohol.”

It was suggested risk could be assuaged by stringent conditions including electronic tagging, a curfew and a prohibition on drugs and alcohol.

Deputy district judge, Sean O’Hare, observed he was not prepared to consider releasing Lynch unless appropriate measures were put in place and suggested the defence make efforts to find a facility to which Lynch would be admitted for addiction treatment.

The case will be mentioned again next month.