A disqualified motorist allegedly left the M1 motorway at Moira Roundabout before exiting a vehicle and running down an embankment into a wooded area.
Gerard Patrick Dugan (38), of Ashgrove Park in Lisburn, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged with driving whilst disqualified; absence of insurance for a Vauxhall Insignia; and assaulting and resisting a police officer on August 28 this year.
A police officer said a vehicle was on the M1 and it flagged on police systems as possibly being driven by the defendant who was a disqualified driver.
Officers followed and the car “appeared to make an attempt to evade police by taking the off-slip towards Moira”.
Police briefly lost sight of the vehicle as it rounded the roundabout and then located it “several seconds later” parked up on a lay-by on the Lisburn Road near the roundabout.
There were no other vehicles nor anyone else in the area, the officer said. The defendant jumped a barrier and ran down an embankment, into a wooded area.
He was wearing a “distinctive orange jacket”.
He was spotted nearby in a field. He discarded his coat and attempted to “conceal himself in undergrowth”.
He was caught by a police officer and struggled. He broke free and went back towards a field where he was caught again and struggled before being detained, the officer said.
The defendant has 70 previous convictions including 15 road traffic offences and had previously been banned from driving seven times.
The most recent disqualification was for two years in August 2024. There were 12 previous arrest warrants.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said the defendant had an “appalling history of breaching bench warrants”.
He refused bail due a risk of offending.
The defendant was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to Lisburn Magistrates’ Court on September 22.
