Man (25) appears before court accused of stealing elderly man's wallet while he was getting hair cut

A County Derry man, who followed an elderly man into a barbers and allegedly stole his coat and wallet while he was getting his hair cut, has appeared before a local court.

Kurtis Irwin, whose address was given on court papers as Union Street, Coleraine, appeared before Limavady Magistrates Court, sitting in Coleraine, this morning (Wednesday) charged with the theft of a wallet containing various cards and £300 cash.

The accused is alleged to have committed the offence on June 28.

An investigating officer told the court that 25 year-old Irwin appeared before the court after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The court heard that police were tasked to a report of a theft from a barbers at Railway Road in Coleraine at 3pm on the date in question.

The victim of the theft, an elderly man, claimed that he had been followed into the barbers by Irwin and when the barber called the man forward to get his hair cut, the defendant offered to take his coat and hang it up for him.

When the man went to pay for his haircut, he discovered that his coat, which contained his wallet, was missing.

A witness who was outside the barbers said that he observed Irwin leave the barbers with a coat which he threw into a garden a short distance away.

CCTV from a local off-licence showed Irwin purchasing alcohol a short time later using a large sum of cash.

Further CCTV footage was obtained which showed the defendant walking along a street while emptying the wallet of its cash before proceeding to throw it into a council bin.

Police retrieved the wallet, which contained cards belonging to the injured party, however no money was recovered.

The court heard that Irwin, who has previous convictions for theft, has failed to turn up to other court appearances and in the past 15 warrants had been issued for his arrest.

The investigating officer said that Irwin had been arrested on foot of a warrant and she told District Judge Peter King that police were opposed to bail due to further risk of reoffending and failure to turn up for court appearances.

District Judge Peter King remanded Irwin in custody to appear before Coleraine Magistrates Court on Monday (October 14).