A Portadown man alleged to have been involved in a crime spree across the town in the early hours of Tuesday morning has been denied bail.
The 27-year-old is accused of being involved in the burglary of four properties making off with an Audi A3, an iPhone 7 and two bikes to the value of £3,000.
Ryan Robert Anderson, of Princess Way, appeared charged with four counts of burglary of a dwelling, theft of a vehicle and possession of class B drugs at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
It was heard that on January 9, at around 3.15am, police were contacted about a suspected burglary at an address on Bachelors Walk, Portadown.
From this property, tools were taken before the homeowner scared off the assailants.
CCTV was taken from this property, which identified two males, before their description was circulated by police.
At around 3.35am, police were contacted by an elderly couple who were concerned their home was being broken into at Margretta Park in the town.
The couple remained upstairs in the property while they were on the phone to police as they were afraid to confront the burglars.
They would later find that their car, an Audi A3, had been stolen and the keys to a commercial property owned by them had also been taken.
The vehicle was later found with the keys in the passenger seat, both of which have been seized for forensic examination.
Anderson was also accused of stealing two bikes valued at £3,000 and an iPhone 7 from two other properties on the same night.
After an appeal on the PSNI Facebook page, the defendant was identified as one of the males in the CCTV footage.
This was corroborated by an officer who claimed he could identify Anderson from the footage seized from the Bachelor’s Walk address.
Police attended the defendant’s home address and during a search of the property found a small amount of cannabis resin.
Constable outlined the reasons why bail was being objected to in this case.
She stated: “Mr Anderson is currently on court bail for similar offences, he has had 11 previous bail breaches and has 42 previous convictions.
“We feel that there is a high likelihood of him committing further offences and all the injured parties live within close proximity to Ryan Anderson’s address”.
Defence solicitor Christopher Lewis said: “I am surprised by the constable’s comments about the PSNI’s Facebook page as this is the first I have heard of it.
“Mr Anderson was actually observed by an officer at his home address at around 4am on the date in question.”
He commented that the defendant was seen topless in his garden having a smoke.
Mr Lewis stated: “The officer spoke to Mr Anderson and these alleged offences are to have occurred just 30 minutes prior.”
He added: “None of the items were found in my client’s property and the only evidence to date is the CCTV footage.”
The solicitor claimed to have spoken to an officer who said that no identification could be made from that footage as it was blurred and the faces of the two men were covered.
District Judge Bernie Kelly stated: “How long has it been in Portadown since an elderly couple’s house was broken into and they were killed?
“Do you have any idea the petrification of this couple, given past events.”
Mr Lewis stated: “On that night Mr Anderson had been at home with his grandfather and his father, who is in court today.”
Judge Kelly said: “This application is an uphill struggle, it would appear that bail conditions have not stopped him, allegedly.
“I am going to reject his bail application as I see him as having a high risk of reoffending, he has the right to appeal this and I am sure his solicitor will speak to him about this.”
The case will return to court on January 25, when Mr Anderson will appear by videolink.
