A teenager accused of knocking down a 4-year-old outside Newry by driving dangerously has been granted bail.
Jeremiah Connors, of Forkhill Road, Newry, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry on Tuesday.
The 18-year-old appeared via video-link from Banbridge custody suite, charged with causing grievous bodily injury by dangerous driving. He was appearing for the purposes of a bail application.
The court heard that on July 31, police received a report from Daisy Hill Hospital that a four-year-old boy had been brought into A&E having been struck by a vehicle on the Forkhill Road. Police attended the scene of the incident and observed skid marks and blood on the ground.
The defendant allegedly presented himself to police and admitted that he had driven the vehicle.
When asked to account for bloodstains on his t-shirt, the court heard that he admitted to hitting the child before getting out of the vehicle and lifting the little boy and handing him to his father who rushed the child to hospital.
He was subsequently arrested for dangerous driving causing grievous bodily injury and during interview he made no comment, except to confirm that he had lifted the child and handed him to his father.
District Judge Anne Marshall remanded Connors on his own bail of £250 to reside at an address in Newry. He is also forbidden from entering the front seat of a car as a driver or a passenger and must also avoid the area where the accident took place.
The case was then adjourned for four weeks – to ensure perfection of bail – to appear before Armagh Magistrates’ Court on August 30.
