Cavan man charged with theft and domestic assault remanded in custody

A man from Cavan in the Republic has appeared at Derry Magistrate's Court charged with theft, domestic assault and breaching a restraining order.

John Mongan (45) of John Paul Avenue in County Cavan was initially charged with, on October 3 this year, stealing £500 after allegedly approaching a man at a garage in Lisburn telling him he needed £200 or he would miss his ferry.

He was said to have told the man that if he went to get the money from an ATM he would pay him back via a bank transfer, showing him a bank account with the money and a false name on it.

The man got £400 from the bank and gave it to Mongan along with the £100 cash he had on him.

The man phoned Mongan several times and was told there were problems with the bank transfer before Mongan stopped answering all together.

The incident was caught on CCTV and police attempted to contact Mongan, getting his partner who told him that police wanted to speak to him.

Mongan was further charged with, on December 11, assault aggravated by domestic abuse and breaching a restraining order after CCTV showed him dragging a woman in the town before being stopped by a number of people.

The alleged injured party, who already had a restraining order against Mongan, initially refused to give a statement, telling police she was too drunk and didn't remember what happened.

He was later seen grabbing her in an aggressive manner in another shop, once again forcing other people to step in.

When arrested, he made full admissions to all the offences and said he would pay back the man he had taken the money from.

Police objected to bail as he has a significant record and domestic history, with 24 incidents since 2021, involving the same alleged injured party, who has been deemed at high risk of domestic abuse.

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He also has convictions over the border and in Spain and police believe he is at risk of leaving the jurisdiction and interfering with witnesses, telling the court that he tried to call the injured party while in custody.

Defence Barrister Brendan Kearney said that the risk of reoffending is 'not particularly strong' as he has made full admissions and the alleged injured party has not made a statement.

District Judge Oonagh Mullan denied bail as she said there is a 'real concern' that Mongan will try to contact the alleged injured party as 'even though he knows he shouldn't do it, he still does'.

He was remanded in custody and will appear again on January 8.