Accused charged with theft of a wallet from man later found dead

A MAN arrested in England last week for stealing a sandwich has appeared in court in Londonderry charged with theft of a wallet from a man who was later found dead beside Derry’s City Walls.

Adrian Vasile Aitoneau, of no fixed abode, is charged with robbing Conall Kerrigan on August 23, 2015.

Mr Kerrigan, who was 25, came from Claudy. He had been out drinking with friends in the city centre after returning home from England to start up a plumbing business.

He was found close to the Millennium Forum Theatre, and at the time police said that prior to his death he had been the victim of a robbery, but they were not linking the two events.

The defendant denies robbing Mr Kerrigan of his wallet and cash on the day when the body was found.

He also denies stealing iPhones — each valued at £600 — from two women on the day before.

At Derry Magistrates Court yesterday a police officer told District Judge Barney McElholm that she could connect the defendant, who was accompanied by an interpreter, to the three charges.

She said the defendant was arrested in Sheffield last Monday and brought back by PSNI officers.

The officer said the police strongly opposed bail on the grounds that the defendant had neither ties nor an address in

Victim: Conall Kerrigan

Northern Ireland and because he had a substantial criminal record in Romania.

The court also heard that Aitoneau had a record for begging and pickpocketing in Dublin in 2014 and 2015.

The police witness also said she believed that if granted bail the defendant would immediately flee.

She said, given his criminal record, she believed he also presented a huge risk of reoffending if granted bail.

The officer said that a co-defendant in the same case fled immediately after being granted High Court bail in 2016.

She added that following the August 2015 offences with which the defendant has been charged, police forces throughout the UK were alerted that the PSNI were actively seeking him.

The constable said CCTV images relating to the robbery of Mr Kerrigan and photographs of the defendant were distributed to the media as a result of which a Garda officer saw the defendant’s photograph in the Irish Independent newspaper and contacted the PSNI.

She said while violence was not used during the theft of Mr Kerrigan’s wallet, the force used was substantial.

Applying for bail, defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said the defendant has been living openly with his pregnant partner and their two children in Rotherham for the last year.

He said the defendant had no criminal record in Northern Ireland and only a caution in Rotherham for stealing a sandwich last week. He added there was nothing to suggest that the defendant had been actively evading the PSNI since August 2015.

The solicitor said he was not convinced that the robbery charge in relation to Mr Kerrigan’s wallet would remain, but he believed the theft charges of the two mobile phones would remain.

Mr Quigley added that it could take up to six months before the case was finalised.

Refusing bail, Mr McElholm said the defendant’s co-defendant had fled after being granted High Court bail and he believed the defendant would do likewise if granted bail.

“I have no confidence that he would turn up for his trial here and it is stretching credulity to a breaking point that he did not know his co-defendant had scarpered,” he added.

The defendant was remanded in custody for a video-link hearing on February 28.